Rotorua trial begins for Tihema Nuttall, who denies shooting driver on Te Ngae Rd

Tihema Nuttall appears in the Rotorua District Court. Photo / Andrew Warner

A man who had just picked up his children from school chased a driver he didn’t know along Rotorua’s Te Ngae Rd and shot him in the face through the car window, the Crown has told a jury.

Tihema Nuttall, 33, is on trial this week in the Rotorua District Court after pleading not guilty to a charge of wounding William Merito with intent to cause grievous bodily harm on August 5, 2021.

It is Nuttall’s defence he wasn’t the person who shot the driver.

Crown prosecutor Mike Smith gave his opening address to a jury yesterday and said Nuttall was travelling towards central Rotorua in his silver Mazda having picked up his children from school about 3pm.

Smith said there were a lot of roadworks at the intersection of Te Ngae Rd and Tarawera Rd and Nuttall was stopped at a red light heading towards Rotorua’s central city. He got out of his vehicle to speak to someone in a vehicle behind him.

When the light turned green, Merito drove his black Ford Territory past where Nuttall was standing.

Smith played CCTV footage to the jury which he said showed Merito slowing down as he drove past Nuttall, as to say something to him.

Tihema Nuttall appears in the Rotorua District Court. Photo / Andrew Warnerner

Smith said Nuttall got in his vehicle and drove after Smith, driving alongside him and shooting at him out the window with a shotgun.

Pellets blasted through the glass of Merito’s passenger window and into his face and head, Smith said.

Merito pulled over and was taken to Waikato Hospital for his injuries.

Police used CCTV footage to find the vehicle’s registered owner and went to the registered address.

The owner was not home but police spotted the vehicle being driven in the area about 4.30pm. Police followed it into Rotorua’s central city and surrounded it when it parked. They arrested Nuttall, who was driving.

A video of the arrest was caught on CCTV and played to the jury.

The gun was not found.

Shot man’s eyesight damaged

Merito gave evidence saying he remembered seeing a man talking to another man at the intersection but he did not say anything as he drove past. He said he remembered seeing two children in the silver car.

He described what happened next.

“I was just driving along and then all of a sudden seen a flash of light and everything went white and I went blind.”

Merito said he had surgeries and glass and shrapnel were removed from his eyes, forehead and face. He said his eyesight had not been the same since.

Nuttall’s lawyer, Andy Hill, gave a brief opening address, saying the jury needed to be sure it was Nuttall who was the shooter.

He said the jury needed to consider if Merito knew Nuttall and if he had been impaired while looking at him and therefore unable to properly identify him to police.

Under cross-examination by Hill, Merito said he was borderline diabetic at the time of the shooting. He now has type 2 diabetes and agreed with Hill he had since learnt it could impact his eyesight.

When asked by Hill if he had smoked cannabis that day, Merito said he had not.

Following questions from Hill, he agreed it was fair to say he was guessing when he picked Nuttall out from a police photo lineup.

The trial is before Judge Anna Skellern and is expected to take three days.

Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.