Two assailants burst into a Mt Roskill house and shot dead a young man and attacked two others with a machete. Video / NZ Herald
Two men accused of murdering Auckland barber Brian James two days before Christmas have pleaded not guilty at their first High Court appearance.
Angelo Junior Thomsen, and another man who was granted interim name suppression, also denied joint charges with a third man for wounding with intent to cause grievousbodily harm to two others at the Glass Rd property in Mt Roskill.
James, 23, was shot and killed at a Kainga Ora property after a late-night altercation. Two other people received non life-threatening injuries.
James had been working at Moe's Barber shop in Mt Eden for about six months, alongside owner Moe Ball.
"He was a very strong person and he was well loved. He was cheeky, very cheeky, but it was all love. He had our backs through everything, he just wanted the best for everyone," Te Kahukoka-Rose Yelash, the cousin of James' girlfriend, said at the time of his death.
Brian James, 23, had been working as a barber at Moe's Barber shop in Mt Eden. Photo / Supplied
Last Wednesday Thomsen, 42, was found by police at a South Auckland address after being on the run.
Today he denied charges of murder and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm through his lawyer.
A second man also denied charges of murder and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm through his lawyer and was granted interim name suppression.
A third man, Robin Leota, 39, was also arrested last week.
The South Aucklander was charged with being accessory after the fact to murder and unlawful possession of a firearm after police allegedly found a loaded sawn-off shotgun.
He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
All three were remanded in custody until a case review hearing in April.
A four-week trial has been set down for July, 2023.
All three appeared at the High Court in Auckland this morning via audio visual link from custody.
