Isiah Buchanan and Ahere Gillies on trial for murder of Javon Aranui in Hastings

Isiah Buchanan, left, and Ahere Gillies appear in the High Court at Napier charged with the murder of Javon Aranui. Photo / Ric Stevens

• Javon Aranui, 24, was fatally attacked by two men in Hastings early on December 20, 2023.
• Local residents were woken by dogs “barking like crazy, going nuts” during the attack.
• The Crown says loud “oomph” noises of exertion could be heard as Aranui was punched, stomped on and kicked.
• Isiah Buchanan and Ahere Gillies are on trial for his murder, which they deny.

The fatally injured victim in a murder case lived long enough to tell police he had been “jumped” by two men early in the morning on a Hastings street.

Javon Aranui, 24, was cycling on Jellicoe St in the suburb of Mayfair when he was assaulted about 3am on December 20, 2023.

Isiah Buchanan, 20, and Ahere Gillies, 21, are on trial charged with murdering Aranui, who was also sometimes known as Snake.

They both denied the murder charge when it was put to them in the High Court at Napier today.

Crown prosecutor Megan Mitchell said Aranui received multiple kicks, stomps and punches to his head and body in the assault.

He later died from the injuries.

Dogs were ‘going nuts’

Mitchell said residents of Jellicoe St in Hastings were woken by dogs “barking like crazy, going nuts” early on December 20.

Outside, Aranui was lying on the ground under a streetlight and two men were assaulting him.

Mitchell said one made loud “oomph” noises of exertion as the punches, stomps and kicks went on for an extended period - possibly as long as 15 minutes.

At one point, one of the men stopped to remove his top and strip down to just his singlet.

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A neighbour called police, who arrived about 3.20am.

Aranui had gone but police found him in another street nearby, on his bicycle.

Mitchell said that Aranui told police he had been biking home to Hastings from Havelock North, when two men “jumped” him.

At that stage, Aranui was upright, talking and moving.

He appeared to be intoxicated, although tests later found no traces of alcohol or drugs in his body.

His condition soon deteriorated, however. He was taken to hospital, arriving at the Emergency Department at Hastings Hospital at 4.19am.

He was sent to Wellington Hospital with a serious brain bleed, Mitchell said. He died there the following day.

Javon Aranui died in December 2023. Photo / Supplied

Gillies’ lawyer Eric Forster told the court his client accepted that he assaulted Aranui, and that the assault was “causative” in his death.

“This was street violence … but what happened here was unexpected," Forster said.

“The consequences went further than [Gillies] expected,” he said.

Manslaughter accepted

He said the appropriate charge for his client would be manslaughter, not murder.

“The reason for that is that it never crossed Ahere Gillies’ mind that his actions would cause Javon Aranui’s death.”

Buchanan’s lawyer Adam Holland said there would be no dispute that Buchanan became involved in what happened to Aranui.

However, he did not concede that he should be found guilty of manslaughter or murder.

The critical issues for Buchanan were, what was his role in the altercation, and to what degree did that role contrast with Gillies’.

He also said there were “very unique circumstances” about how the altercation ended.

He told the jury of eight women and four men that what happened afterward “will be an important issue which you will need to focus on”.

Justice Peter Churchman said the trial was expected to last about two weeks.

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He warned the jury not to research aspects of the case or people associated with it, or post about it on social media.

“The big picture is don’t make any inquiries of your own. Don’t discuss this case with others apart from members of the jury,” the judge said.

“My suggestion is you just keep off social media for the next couple of weeks,” the judge said.

Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of frontline experience as a probation officer.