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Home / New Zealand

Piopio home invasion: Jury sent off to deliberate fate of father and son after teen's finger chopped off

Belinda Feek
By Belinda Feek
Open Justice multimedia journalist, Waikato·NZ Herald·
10 May, 2022 04:57 AM5 mins to read

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William "Bill" Burr and his son, Shaun, face multiple charges after an alleged assault on one of two teens who broke into his Piopio home. Photo / NZME

William "Bill" Burr and his son, Shaun, face multiple charges after an alleged assault on one of two teens who broke into his Piopio home. Photo / NZME

Did William and Shaun Burr inflict aggressive violence out of revenge on two teens who'd broken into their home, or were they simply trying to protect themselves?

A jury of three women and nine men have just begun those discussions in the High Court at Hamilton to determine whether the Piopio father and son farmers are guilty of multiple violence charges.

The jury were sent out to begin deliberations at 4pm. However, when Justice Grant Powell checked in on progress at 4.45pm the jury confirmed they would like to adjourn for the evening.

They will now resume deliberations tomorrow morning.

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They've spent the past six days hearing submissions from both sides after the teen boy had the tip of his little finger chopped off by the pair after he and his girlfriend broke into the home at about 1.45am on October 1, 2020.

In summing up the case this afternoon, Justice Grant Powell explained "reasonable doubt" when it came to verdicts on the various charges.

A reasonable doubt was an honest and reasonable uncertainty, or they "must be sure" that they are guilty of any charge.

The pair face charges of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, or wounding with intent to injure in the alternative in relation to attacking the boy with a stick as he lay on the floor.

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They also face a charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm or maiming with intent to injure after chopping off the tip of the boy's little finger.

Burr snr faces extra charges of assaulting a woman, for kicking the teen girl in the head on the floor and injuring with intent to injure for allegedly stomping on the back of the boy as he lay on the floor.

Burr snr took to the stand, but Justice Powell explained nothing can be inferred on Burr jnr for not giving evidence as he did not have to establish his innocence.

The Crown say it was aggressive violence with the pair acting out of revenge for what the teen had put Burr snr through that night and in previous burglaries.

The defence contends the situation was far from being under control and the teen constantly posed a threat as he lay with a knife on the floor.

The judge said that self-defence can be used as a defence "in circumstances he or she believes them to be reasonable to use".

'What happened?'

For the past six days, the jury has heard detailed accounts about what is alleged to have happened in the Napinapi Rd home on October 1, 2020.

King Country farmer William Burr, known as Bill, had three times been the victim of the burglar - each time the teen broke into Burr's home to get the keys for his car.

This time, fuelled with Cody's bourbon and cannabis, the 17-year-old took his then-girlfriend - both of whom have name suppression - to Burr's house on Napinapi Rd in the early hours.

The teen had been bailed to an Auckland property on charges from a burglary of Burr's home the week before and was driven down by his girlfriend's cousins.

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The pair went into Burr snr's bedroom after being unable to find the keys elsewhere in the house.

There, the teen girl hit him over the head - she would say once, he says twice - and a fight erupted lasting approximately eight minutes.

Burr snr then managed to turn the light on and said he'd give up and hand over the keys which he told the teenager were on top of the microwave.

He sat exhausted on the end of the bed, naked, next to the teen girl. He told her he was going to put on some clothes and she left.

He testified that it was then he grabbed his shotgun from his en suite, marched down the hallway, and pointed it at the pair as they stood in the kitchen.

They immediately dropped to the floor and Burr snr said he set about calling various people, including emergency services, his son, his neighbour and local police constable Tony Schrafft.

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Shaun Burr arrived and set about striking the teen, on instruction from his father, as he believed he was trying to get up off the ground.

Burr jnr struck him with one "beautiful" punch, he said, which sent him to the floor.

Burr snr says the boy was lashing out and trying to stand up, as he held a knife Burr feared was going to be used on them.

Annoyed that the boy kept getting up, Burr says he warned him that if he didn't show his left hand that he would cut it off.

Still refusing to put both hands out in front of him, the farmer asked his son to cut the teen - which he did.

The boy still refused to show his hands and Burr snr instructed his son to chop off a finger - which Burr jnr did.

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