Hit-and-run accused had 'no intention' of harming victim - lawyer

Joanne Wang died after being hit by a car on June 16 2008. Photo / Supplied

The man who killed Manukau businesswoman Joanne Wang when he hit her with a car as he tried to escape with her handbag says he had no intention of harming her.

Christopher Shadrock admits he drove the stolen car which struck Mrs Wang at a Manukau mall carpark on June 16, 2008, causing a brain injury from which she died the next day.

But his lawyer Chris Wilkinson-Smith said he was not guilty of murder as he had no intention of injuring her when the car struck her.

Shadrock is on trial at the High Court in Auckland for the murder of Mrs Wang, 39. Five other men face charges in relation to the incident.

The Crown says Shadrock stole Mrs Wang's handbag and then chose to strike Ms Wang, who had chased after him, with his car as he tried to escape the scene.

Shadrock's lawyer Chris Wilkinson-Smith said his client intended only to take Ms Wang's bag.

"He had no intention to harm Mrs Wang, let alone that she should lose her life. His intention was that of a bag snatcher to take a bag."

Crown prosecutor Christine Gordon, SC, said Shadrock had gone to the mall carpark in a stolen Nissan four wheel drive intent on stealing a handbag, with four colleagues in a Mitsubishi also circling the carpark.

Ms Gordon said Mrs Wang would not normally have been at the mall in that time but she chose to leave work early because she wanted to spend time with her brother, who was visiting from the United States.

She said Shadrock, who had been circling the carpark, saw Mrs Wang and her eight-year-old son heading towards her Toyota in the carpark about 3.30pm.

Shadrock went over and reached across the passenger's side and grabbed the handbag before running back to his car, Ms Gordon said.

She said Mrs Wang chased Shadrock back to the car, where he tried to reverse to avoid her.

But when his way back was blocked by an incoming car, he chose to accelerate, drive ahead and hit her, Ms Gordon said.

"The acceleration shows Shadrock's conscious choice to hit Mrs Wang with the Nissan in order to escape," she said.

"He could have dumped the stolen vehicle and run to the Mitsubishi, he could have thrown her handbag out of vehicle, but he chose to hit her to escape and avoid detection."

Mr Wilkinson-Smith said it was a low-speed collision - the car was travelling at 25km/h at most - and that it had moved forward one to two car lengths at most before it hit Mrs Wang.

He said the defence also contended Mrs Wang was off to the passenger's side of the car and not standing in front as the Crown claims.

Five other men - Maka Tuikolovatu, Lionel Tekanawa, Vila Lemanu, Mateni Lynch and Terence Tere - face charges of being an accessory after the fact to murder.

Ms Gordon said Tuikolovatu chose to hide the handbag at his girlfriend's place in order to stop police tracking it down. It was found later that week with all the cash missing.

She said Tere and Lynch helped Lemanu and Tekanawa burn the white Nissan at Manukau Velodrome two days after Mrs Wang was hit.

The Crown says all five knew Shadrock was involved in the incident which resulted in Mrs Wang's death and chose to help Shadrock in order to help him avoid apprehension.

Tere's lawyer Lorraine Smith said her client denied being an accessory to murder after the fact because he did not accept there was a murder as opposed to a manslaughter.

Shadrock, Tuikolovatu, Tekanawa and Lemanu also face charges of the theft of Ms Wang's handbag, which had about $4000 cash inside it.

The jury of five men and seven women are tomorrow due to visit the mall carpark.

The trial before Justice Rodney Hansen is due to last four weeks.

- NZPA