Jury retires for the night in Hastings murder trial

Police examining the Akina scene a few hours after the death in February last year. PHOTO/FILE

A jury has retired for today and will restart deliberations on Friday in the trial of a Hastings man charged with murder.

Vaughan Robert Davies, 44, claims his stabbing of friend and near-neighbour Bruce Tracey Wirihana-Hawkins is self defence.

He reiterated his plea of not guilty when the trial started in the High Court in Napier on Monday, relating to the death of the father-of-six, who died at the age of 30 on February 8 last year, after an incident after an incident at a property Lumsden Rd, Akina, where he lived with his partner and children.

Crown prosecutor Jo Rielly called 13 witnesses, which included police producing two recorded interviews with the accused, who also gave evidence on Wednesday in the defence, led by counsel Eric Forster.

The jury of seven men and five women retired just after 3pm today after the summary and directions from trial judge Justice Christine Grice. At about 5pm they were told to head home and return again on Friday morning.

Davies admitted stabbing Wirihana-Hawkins in a heated exchange over Davies' accusations that someone had taken his son's tobacco, a $100 pouch of Port Royal.

It followed some time at a central Hastings bar, an intoxicated walk home and the smoking of methamphetamine with Wirihana-Hawkins' partner and another man, all known to each other.

Davies said Wirihana-Hawkins seemed agitated that the group had been away some time when they had originally headed into town only to get takeaway alcohol.

He said that after asking for the "smokes" to be given back, Wirihana-Hawkins approached him aggressively and began pushing him in the chest.

He said he stumbled back and pulled a knife from his pocket fearing he was about to get "a hiding" and intending only to scare the man.

It was then the stabbing, Forster saying in his closing address on Thursday that the position of the single wound was some evidence that the blow was not intended to kill but just to stop being assaulted.

He'd also said he was worried about his health Forster argued the accused's demeanour beforehand was passive and did not suggest any aggression.

The main questions for the jury were whether it was self-defence and was the level of force justified in the circumstances.

If the Crown had not proven that it wasn't, then the jury had to find his client not guilty Forster said.

The four-day trial is the last jury trial in Hawke's Bay for at least two months, with all jury trials stopped as a result of Covid-19 crisis measures taken this week.