Stab victim reached for gun, court told

Mark McCutcheon. Photo / Supplied

A witness has described how a man reached for his gun case just seconds before tussling with a Mongrel Mob prospect, who is now charged with his murder.

Fencer Craig Mullan, in the High Court at Napier yesterday, said Hulio Ataria sprinted across the road towards Mark McCutcheon after being ordered to do so by a patched Mongrel Mob member. Ataria, 23, is charged with murdering Mr McCutcheon after stabbing him outside Ongaonga's Sandford Arms Tavern last January. Mr McCutcheon was found dead from stab wounds behind the wheel of his ute, which had crashed through a fence and into a paddock sometime after midnight on January 23.

Mr Mullan said Mr McCutcheon and the patched member, whose name is suppressed, began arguing after the mobster had been seen beating his female partner in a car outside the pub about 11.30pm.

"Mark was yelling at [mobster], telling him to 'stop it, get off and f*** off'," Mr Mullan said.

The mobster replied "mind your f****** business", he said. The arguing continued for a few minutes.

"Mark reached into his car, pulled out a rifle and said 'I'll f****** shoot you if you don't f*** off'."

He said the mobster then turned to Ataria, who was standing nearby and said: "Sieg him, get him, get him."

Ataria, a Mongrel Mob prospect, then sprinted across the road towards Mr McCutcheon, who was attempting to unzip the gun case.

"He tried to unzip it, lifted up the rifle and swung it like a softball bat," Mr Mullan said. In the ensuing scuffle, he said it looked like Ataria was "just punching him all over".

The gun case was dropped, picked up by Ataria, handed to an associate, then to Mr Mullan's friend, Craig Turfrey, who eventually passed it to publican Pat Quin. Mr McCutcheon then got into his ute and "took off fast", Mr Mullan said.

Defence counsel Tony Snell questioned Mr Mullan over his intoxication level. He admitted drinking heavily with Mr McCutcheon in the hours leading up to the incident. "He [McCutcheon] was more intoxicated than I was," Mr Mullan said.

A post-mortem analysis of Mr McCutcheon's blood showed a blood alcohol level of 191 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit for drivers is 80mg.

Former pub worker Malinda Reidy gave evidence via a video-link from Atlanta, US. She said minutes before the incident she saw Mr McCutcheon arguing with the mobster, who was arguing with his partner in a car. Ms Reidy asked her partner, Mr Turfrey, Mr McCutcheon and Mr Mullan to come inside. "It looked like Mark was pretty wound up. Craig [Turfrey] had him by the shoulders ... he was saying 'it's just not worth it, just come back inside'."

- NZPA