Rakai Jacob Thompson (left insert) is on trial in the High Court at New Plymouth, charged with the murder of Te Omeka Pairama Akariri-Buckley.
The brother and extended whānau of a teen who was fatally stabbed were overcome by emotion as distressing CCTV footage capturing moments of the alleged murder played in court.
Today, Don Akariri-Buckley was giving evidence at the trial of Rakai Thompson, who is accused of murdering 17-year-old Te Omeka Pairama Akariri-Buckley.
The Crown played footage taken from Thompson’s Waitara address in Taranaki, showing the three arguing on his driveway moments before Te Omeka was fatally stabbed.
But, prosecutor Jacob Bourke asked for the video to be stopped before addressing Don, Te Omeka’s brother, who was giving evidence from behind a screen, asking if he needed to take a break.
Don remained silent and Bourke asked again before suggesting an adjournment.
Immediately after, Don left the courtroom and a loud thump could be heard, followed by him yelling “F***ing c***”.
Members of his whānau were visibly upset in the public gallery.
When the trial resumed, Don remained calm as he continued his evidence.
The rest of the grainy and dark CCTV footage was played, drawing gasps from whānau in the gallery as it showed Te Omeka running a few metres after being stabbed.
He collided with a vehicle and then collapsed on his back.
Audio captured Thompson repeatedly yelling “This is all your fault,” before he was also heard screaming “Don’t f*** with me” and “I told you not to f*** with me”.
Moments before the stabbing, Thompson could be heard in the video yelling and swearing at the brothers when they arrived at his house.
Thompson’s two-week trial in the High Court at New Plymouth began yesterday.
The 26-year-old is currently on crutches with his leg in plaster and has spent most of the trial with his head bowed.
The jury has heard that Te Omeka died after being stabbed by Thompson, 26, in the early hours of July 30, last year.
Earlier, the Akariri-Buckley brothers, Thompson and their friend, Anthony Kipa, had spent the evening unsuccessfully sheep rustling in two locations in Taranaki, in a bid to fill their freezers.
As the night wore on, the group’s dynamic began to sour with arguments breaking out between Thompson and the brothers.
The Crown claimed Thompson became increasingly “angered and agitated” and, after returning to his house, Thompson contacted Don and told him to pick up a road bike he had borrowed from him.
He was standing on his verandah, armed with a boning knife, when the brothers arrived shortly after.
While the Crown claimed what ensued was murder, the defence argued Thompson did stab the teen but did not intentionally cause his death, and his actions were in self-defence.
They say that Thompson had long been mistreated by the brothers, describing him as their “whipping boy”, and he was sick of the abuse.
He wanted to sever ties with them, hence his asking for the bike to be collected, and that he did not want a confrontation but was carrying the knife out of fear.
During a scuffle on the driveway between Te Omeka and Thompson, Thompson was punched in the head several times, the jury has heard.
Defence claimed that in the brief seconds that followed, he stabbed Te Omeka out of “instinct and fear”, and immediately after tried to assist in saving his life.
During Don’s evidence, he described Thompson as being like a little brother to him, and said the three always “gave each other s***”.
Don admitted to previously having had physical fights with Thompson, but not for years, accepting they’d had “disagreements” and Don had at times “lost his cool”.
He said Thompson “did it to himself” by “doing dumb s***”, but maintained they had a sibling-like dynamic.
Don said that moments before the stabbing, Thompson was having a “tantrum” in his driveway, yelling and not making sense.
Evidence showed Thompson had told the brothers to stay out of his shed when they collected the bike, and his anger grew when Te Omeka approached the shed to grab a helmet.
Don said he was standing in front of his vehicle when he saw Te Omeka and Thompson begin to “tussle”.
He said Thompson threw the first punch, which did not connect.
Te Omeka responded by landing several punches to Thompson’s head, Don recalled in a police video played as part of his evidence.
In the moments that followed, Thompson stabbed Te Omeka twice, penetrating his heart and kidney, and causing other incision wounds to his body.
Don initially thought Thompson had punched the teen and recalled thinking “Oh that’s a heck of a punch”.
It was not until Te Omeka hit the ground and Don saw the knife that he realised what had transpired.
Don began “jumping around and screaming” before “laying into” Thompson, who just “sort of took it”, Don said.
What followed was an effort by people already at the scene, neighbours and emergency services to save the teen’s life.
Don said he phoned their mother to tell her what had happened, and he followed the ambulance to the hospital.
He recalled coming across the ambulance stopped on the side of the road and racing to the back, where his brother was being treated.
“You’re strong, my brother, you’re strong ... fight it, fight it,” he remembered saying.
Don described being at the hospital soon after as “the hardest moment”, not knowing whether his younger brother had survived.
Despite undergoing emergency surgery, Te Omeka died.
Yesterday, following the openings from the Crown and defence, the brothers’ mother, Donna Akariri, gave evidence.
She said Thompson became close with their whānau after Don took him under his wing about 10 years ago when Thompson’s older brother, who Don was friends with, died.
Don and Thompson were like siblings; they supported one another, got up to “mischief”, and had disagreements, Akariri said.
Thompson and Te Omeka were also close, and the three spent a lot of time together, she said.
Before the brothers went to Thompson’s house that night, Te Omeka told his mother that Thompson was being a “bloody idiot” and there had been an argument about “nothing”.
Akariri said Te Omeka was pretty agitated about the situation.
The trial continues.
Tara Shaskey joined NZME in 2022 and is currently an assistant editor and reporter for the Open Justice team. She has been a reporter since 2014 and previously worked at Stuff covering crime and justice, arts and entertainment, and Māori issues.