Jamie Slater has denied a charge of murder relating to the death of Whatitiri Whakaruru. Photo / Tara Shaskey
Jamie Slater has denied a charge of murder relating to the death of Whatitiri Whakaruru. Photo / Tara Shaskey
A man who witnessed his cousin die in an alleged stabbing seriously beat the accused killer, stomping on his head and kicking and punching him until police arrived at the scene.
Whatitiri Whakaruru died on April 22 last year at an accommodation complex on Gladstone St in target="_blank">Hāwera, South Taranaki, where his cousin, Kingi Te Aroha Poutonga Keremeta, had been staying.
Keremeta, Whakaruru and an associate had been playing table tennis and pool in the complex’s recreation room that evening.
Around 10pm, Whakaruru suffered nonsurvivable injuries following an alleged altercation in the recreation room with another resident, Jamie Slater.
With his bare feet, he then kicked and stomped Slater’s head. The assault continued until the first police officers arrived and Keremeta was pulled off Slater by an associate.
According to the court documents, Keremeta threw pool balls in an injured Slater’s direction while police were assisting Whakaruru with medical treatment.
Whakaruru was transported to hospital but was unable to be revived.
Slater was also taken to hospital as a result of the assault.
He suffered significant bruising to his head and face, subconjunctival haemorrhages to both eyes and a right intra-orbital floor fracture, where the bones of the rim of an eye socket are pushed back, which later required a maxillofacial procedure.
When spoken to by police, Keremeta admitted the assault and said at the time he felt “blind fury”.
Judge Gregory Hikaka sentenced Keremeta in November on a charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and, according to his notes, described it as “nasty violence”.
He acknowledged that the events that evening had ended with the death of Whakaruru.
Whatitiri Whakaruru was allegedly murdered at an accommodation complex in Hāwera, South Taranaki.
Keremeta was also sentenced for family violence matters which occurred in January last year.
Judge Hikaka had been asked to take into account Keremeta’s “significant assistance” to the prosecution when it came to the offending against Slater.
He said information provided to the court had in “no small measure” assisted Keremeta, who had revealed a changed mindset after having a real wake-up call.
The judge said the change was positive considering Keremeta’s mindset had previously been geared towards violence when frustrated with others.
“You recognised that your anger stopped you from making a good decision and the passing of your cousin has added to the wake-up call for you.
“Getting clean from alcohol and drugs is a positive thing and that has been the situation since mid this year.”
The judge noted Keremeta was employed, regularly went to the gym, had made good progress and had a suitable address for home detention.
For the family violence matters and the assault against Slater, Judge Hikaka landed on an end sentence of 22 months imprisonment, which he converted to 10 months of home detention for Keremeta’s positive prospects moving forward.
“You need to stay off the drugs and you need to manage your anger,” the judge warned him.
Keremeta was also given six months of post-detention conditions and will be judicially monitored.
Slater is currently remanded in custody and will next appear in court on February 14 for a callover hearing ahead of his trial on June 9, set down for two weeks.
Tara Shaskey joined NZME in 2022 as a news director and Open Justice reporter. She has been a reporter since 2014 and previously worked at Stuff covering crime and justice, arts and entertainment, and Māori issues.
