Father of Haami Hanara pleads guilty to perverting course of Justice after hiding his son in March last year. Photo / File.
Father of Haami Hanara pleads guilty to perverting course of Justice after hiding his son in March last year. Photo / File.
Witerangi Hanara told police and social workers he didn't know where his 14-year-old son was after the teen stabbed Flaxmere man Kelly Donner last year.
But he was hiding him all along.
Hanara, 43, pleaded guilty in the Napier District Court before Judge Geoff Rea this morning to perverting thecourse of Justice.
His son, Haami Hanara, now 15, was found guilty of fatally stabbing Kelly Donner, 40, on March 4 last year in Flaxmere.
Four other youths were also charged for their involvement in the attack, by hurling bottles, rocks, concrete and a bicycle at Donner before his death.
Shrine behind Flaxmere Tavern for Kelly Donner. Photo / Warren Buckland.
After Donner's death, Witerangi Hanara stopped police from arresting him by keeping him hidden at associates' houses.
He told both police and social workers that he didn't know his son's whereabouts, telling them he was also searching for him.
On March 17, Hanara moved his son to a rural location near Whanganui and attended a 21st birthday party at Atene marae where photos were taken of the pair.
Hanara attended the court appearances of Haami's co-offenders and continued to tell Orangi Tamariki that his son had not been found.
He contacted police on March 27 expressing concern for his son's disappearance, saying he thought someone from Donner's family might have killed him.
On April 6, 2018, Haami Hanara was located by police, arrested and charged with Donner's murder.
Kelly Alex Donner was found dead on the green outside the Flax Bar and Eatery in Swansea Rd, next to the Flaxmere Village Shopping Centre, on March 4 last year. Photo / Supplied
Haami was found guilty of murder after stabbing Donner four times, the fatal blow plunging into his carotid artery causing his death.
He was handed down a sentence with a minimum non-parole period of 10 years.
His father was found outside Hastings Court on May 3, charged with perverting the course of Justice.
He will be sentenced on May 10 at the Napier District Court.
