A 15-year-old boy today pleaded not guilty to the murder of a motorist who died after a concrete block was thrown from an Auckland motorway bridge through his car window.
The teenager, who cannot be named, has denied murdering Chris Currie, 20, in August last year.
Police allege he threw
an eight kilogram block of concrete from the Princes Street overbridge on Auckland's southern motorway.
The block smashed through the windscreen of Taupo man Mr Currie's car, killing him instantly.
His girlfriend, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, noticed Mr Currie had gone limp and grabbed the steering wheel but the car crashed 200 metres further down the motorway injuring all three passengers.
The teenager, who was 14 at the time of the incident, said at a Youth Court hearing last year that he would plead guilty to manslaughter if the charge was laid.
His murder trial began in the High Court in Auckland today when the Crown was expected to call 35 witnesses.
When the now 15-year-old appeared in the dock this morning, he pleaded "not guilty" in a firm voice to murdering Mr Currie.
The trial is expected to last seven days.
- NZPA
