Luke Tipene murder trial: 'He didn't know what he'd done'

The friend of a teenager accused of stabbing an up-and-coming rugby league player has described seeing his mate's look of shock moments after the fatal incident.

Vincent Angene Skeen, 17, is on trial in the High Court at Auckland charged with murdering 17-year-old Luke Tipene with a broken beer bottle.

This afternoon, the court heard from 18-year-old Dominic Bellfield, who had spent the evening of October 31 with the defendant after buying a new car.

They ended up on Great North Rd, in Grey Lynn, as partygoers spilled onto the street and fights developed.

Mr Bellfield said he did not see any of the violence but was approached by Skeen who told him: "I caked it."

The witness told the court it meant: "I messed up."

Mr Bellfield said Skeen "sort of looked like he didn't know what he'd done".

The witness described earlier driving around Auckland "wasting time", looking for a party, earlier in the day

Eventually they found the one in Grey Lynn, where Skeen's girlfriend had spent the evening with a large group of other revellers.

The Crown says a pre-arranged fight between two men began on the street when Skeen punched Mr Tipene's friend from behind.

"A haymaker ... a right hook," witness 18-year-old Michael Williams called it.

It is alleged Mr Tipene stepped in and fought with Skeen, knocking him to the ground with a similar blow.

Mr Williams, who had spent the night at the party, said the pair fought from one side of the road to the other.

"Fists everywhere," he said. "All you could see were heaps of punches connecting on both sides."

Skeen's lawyer Lorraine Smith accepted her client grabbed a bottle neck and swung for Mr Tipene, connecting with his neck.

The glass shard pierced his jugular and several witnesses saw the victim stagger over to the pavement as blood poured from the wound.

Mr Bellfield said Skeen jumped in the car with his girlfriend and was offered a ride home but after 20 metres the pair got out and he did not see them again.

The trial before Justice Mark Woolford is set down for three weeks.