Girl not guilty of friend's murder

A reenager who stabbed another girl in the neck with a wine knife is not a murderer, a jury has found.

Rarua Edwardson, 17, has been found not guilty of murdering her former friend Melissa Puhi, 16, but guilty of manslaughter. A jury in the High Court at Rotorua took 3 1/2 hours yesterday to reach the verdict.

As the verdict was announced, members of Miss Puhi's family put their heads down and began to cry quietly.

Justice Lyn Stevens remanded Edwardson in custody until April 27, when she will be sentenced on the manslaughter charge. Outside the court yesterday, a family member of Edwardson's, Des Baker, said she had offered to plead guilty to manslaughter before the trial but the Crown would not accept her plea.

Mr Baker and other family members said they were pleased with the jury's verdict.

"Our instructions to John Rowan [Edwardson's lawyer] were to fight the murder charge vigorously, and we have done that," Mr Baker said.

Rotorua Crown Solicitor Fletcher Pilditch said the guilty plea had been formally offered a week before the trial.

However, it was not a decision the Crown felt it should make.

"It was a community [jury's] decision."

Edwardson had been on trial for the past three weeks.

The Crown had said that on May 13 last year at Turangi, Edwardson took a wine knife with a retractable blade and "plunged" it into Miss Puhi's neck after an argument and fight between the pair. Miss Puhi died in an ambulance on the way to Taupo Hospital.

Edwardson had maintained she was acting in self defence and had no intention to kill Miss Puhi.

Mr Baker, who travelled from Raglan to be at the trial, said Edwardson was an articulate, intelligent girl who had been working towards a Bachelor of Maori Studies at Te Kura O Hirangi in Turangi. After the sentencing, she would be able to move on.

"Rarua's life is not in limbo."

Both Miss Puhi and Edwardson had been drinking the night Miss Puhi was killed.

Mr Baker said he was concerned about the prevalence of alcohol among young people.

"What is tragic is every Friday and Saturday night is a menu for ... mayhem ... It's all dished up on a bed of alcohol."

While parents needed to take some responsibility, there also needed to be "a fundamental shift of attitude".

Edwardson's uncle Don Edwardson said that as far as he knew, his niece had only had a couple of beers at her grandfather's birthday since the May 13 tragedy. Edwardson knew drinking alcohol was "not good" and was now focused on her future. Don Edwardson said there had been reconciliation between his family and Miss Puhi's family while they were waiting for the verdict.

"Melissa's mother approached us and was very concerned about us."

Miss Puhi's family cried and hugged each other outside the court. Another of Edwardson's uncles, Murupara's Keehan Whakatihi, said his niece knew what she had done was wrong but he hoped she could move on.

"If she keeps thinking positively she will be alright."