Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua manslaughter trial: Lawyers give closing arguments in case of man accused of killing father-in-law

Kelly Makiha
By Kelly Makiha
Multimedia Journalist·Rotorua Daily Post·
29 Sep, 2021 06:00 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Redford Kaea in the High Court at Rotorua. Photo / Andrew Warner

Redford Kaea in the High Court at Rotorua. Photo / Andrew Warner

Redford Kaea didn't say he was scared as hell, he said he was "mad as f***".

That distinction, the Crown says, is critical when considering whether Kaea is guilty of the manslaughter of his father-in-law during a fight at their Malfroy Rd flats last year.

Kaea, 26, is on trial in the High Court at Rotorua after pleading not guilty to the manslaughter of Michael John Anderson on February 1.

Anderson, 60, suffered severe head injuries and spent 13 days in the intensive care unit at Waikato Hospital before dying from blunt force trauma to his head.

Kaea admits physically fighting with Anderson but says he was acting in self-defence as his father-in-law was trying to stop him leaving the property.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The trial is before Justice Andru Isac and a jury.

Crown prosecutor Anna McConachy gave her closing arguments today, saying Anderson suffered a range of injuries including broken bones, brain bleeds and a punctured lung.

His cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

McConachy told the jury the force needed to inflict such injuries must have been substantial and therefore wasn't reasonable force, which was required if they were to believe he acted in self-defence.

She said it wasn't a fair fight as Kaea was twice the size and half the age.

She said while it might have started as a "full-on fight" and Anderson might have thrown the first punch, Kaea was stronger and bigger.

Redford Kaea is on trial for manslaughter. Photo / Andrew Warner
Redford Kaea is on trial for manslaughter. Photo / Andrew Warner

McConachy reminded the jury that neighbour Morgan Hamiora-Smith gave evidence he saw Kaea smash Anderson around with his fists. He also saw him get flipped backwards twice.

McConachy said Kaea said in his police interview that when he flipped Anderson backwards he was "mad as f***". He was mad because Anderson was holding on to his car as if trying to stop him leaving.

"He didn't say he was scared as hell. He said he was mad as f***."

McConachy said Anderson wasn't attacking Kaea while on the ground and police even asked Kaea in his interview if Anderson was trying to hurt Kaea before he picked him up and threw him and Kaea said "no".

Defence lawyer Bill Nabney said the jury needed to focus on one action and that was when Kaea picked up Anderson and threw him.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"No one saw him punch him. He threw him to the side because he was stopping him from leaving. In a case of a few seconds, he has picked him up and thrown him and unfortunately his head hit the concrete but it only happened once. We are talking about one action, one thing done by Kaea in the context of him being attacked."

Nabney said there was no evidence to suggest Kaea intended to do any harm.

"In hindsight, he did [do harm] but hindsight is a wonderful thing."

He reminded the jury of evidence from Kelly Purcell, who drove past the fight.

In his evidence, Purcell described the "attacker" as being a man of medium build with salt and pepper-coloured frizzy hair, which fitted the description of Anderson, not Kaea.

Justice Andru will sum up the case tomorrow before the jury retires to consider their verdict.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Sport

Rugby showdown: Local teams gear up for Baywide semis

09 Jul 06:00 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

Rain train: Weather watches keep rolling in for Bay of Plenty

09 Jul 01:32 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

'Ecstatic' reunion: Cat found after year-long disappearance

09 Jul 12:00 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rugby showdown: Local teams gear up for Baywide semis

Rugby showdown: Local teams gear up for Baywide semis

09 Jul 06:00 AM

Whakarewarewa dominated Te Puna with a 57-10 win in Rotorua.

Rain train: Weather watches keep rolling in for Bay of Plenty

Rain train: Weather watches keep rolling in for Bay of Plenty

09 Jul 01:32 AM
'Ecstatic' reunion: Cat found after year-long disappearance

'Ecstatic' reunion: Cat found after year-long disappearance

09 Jul 12:00 AM
'Horrible': Memorial for deaf, blind man killed in alleged hit-and-run is destroyed

'Horrible': Memorial for deaf, blind man killed in alleged hit-and-run is destroyed

08 Jul 10:50 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP