Friend saw schoolboy fighting for breath

A friend of slain teenager Augustine Borrell has told a court of finding him covered in blood and struggling to breathe.

Laura Douglas had been at a party with 17-year-old Augustine in Hamilton Rd, Herne Bay, when it was shut down because some alcohol and cellphones had been stolen.

After the party ended, she joined a group of people on nearby Jervois Rd where she saw Augustine lying on the ground.

"I knelt down next to him. He was lying with his eyes open and was barely breathing ... He couldn't talk," Miss Douglas said.

When someone lifted up his "blood-soaked" T-shirt, she saw the stab wound on his chest and blood smeared on his stomach.

Haiden Mark Davis, 20, is on trial at the High Court at Auckland. He admits fighting with Augustine on September 8, 2007 but has pleaded not guilty to murder because he says Augustine's death was accidental.

Rebecca Morrison's parents owned the Hamilton Rd house where the party had been and she made the decision to end it when she discovered the alcohol and cellphones were missing.

She told the court she asked Augustine and the others to leave and he asked her if he could say goodbye to Miss Douglas first.

Once he left the house he texted Miss Douglas several times asking her to come outside but she said she was helping to clean up.

An earlier witness, David Moynihan, told the court he was punched in the back of the head by Davis at another party in London St at the same time as the Hamilton Rd party.

He and some friends were not invited but arrived after being called by someone they knew who was there.

Mr Moynihan heard a man calling him outside. As he walked outside Davis punched him from behind in the back of the head.

Prosecutor Sue Gray asked him if he could describe the assault and he replied it was "hard" and left a scar behind his ear.

Under cross-examination, Mr Moynihan denied he was looking for trouble. However, he said that when he went outside he knew there was a possibility of a fight because he was going to confront someone who was calling out to him.

The party was being held to celebrate Joseph Elia's 16th birthday. He said Davis was "pretty intoxicated like we all were" but was happy.

The trial continues today.