Two Somali men accused of murdering a Tongan man in Owairaka in January last year appeared at a depositions hearing in the Auckland District Court yesterday.
Ambar Badam Yusuf, a 22-year-old student, and Abdirizak Ali Ismail, 48, a sickness beneficiary, are charged with the murder of Elikena Inia in McGehan Close
on January 16 last year. He was stabbed.
A resident of McGehan Close, Edith Kalekale, said that several hours after she returned home about 7pm she went outside and saw Tongans and Somalis arguing.
She said Mr Inia was talking to the Somalis saying: "Me and you. One on One."
Some of the Somalis were carrying wood, and a Somali girl was holding a glass bottle.
Mrs Kalekale said Mr Inia was in a bad mood.
A group of about 20 Somalis was "hyped" and "ready to fight".
To questions from Aaron Perkins, prosecuting, Mrs Kalekale said she saw two Somalis grab Mr Inia and another Somali attack him with a closed fist.
She said some teenage friends of Mr Inia arrived out of the dark ready for a fight.
Earlier a teenage witness told the court that he was sitting outside an address on Triton Ave, near McGehan Close, when he saw a Somali man run his car over a ball.
The driver turned into McGehan Close, followed by the owner of the ball.
The owner started throwing punches at the Somali man, said the witness, who cannot be identified.
Cross-examined by Graeme Newell, for the defendant Ismail, the witness said he could not remember stating to the police on February 25 last year that Mr Inia had asked him for a machete.
The witness agreed that he signed another statement that Mr Inia had run after him and had asked for the machete.
The hearing is expected to take a week.
