The widow of a dairy owner will today give evidence at the High Court trial of two teenagers accused of killing him.
The trial at the High Court in Auckland is expected to take up to five weeks (file). Photo: RNZ
A 14-year-old is accused of murdering West Auckland dairy owner Arun Kumar and a 13-year-old boy is accused of manslaughter. They have denied the charges at the start of their trial.
Both teenagers, who have name suppression, also face charges of assault with intent to rob.
Arun Kumar Photo: SUPPLIED
Yesterday, the High Court in Auckland was shown CCTV footage of Mr Kumar being stabbed.
Members of the Kumar family were in court along with family members and supporters of the accused.
The Crown told the court the boys saw the Kumars as soft targets.
In his opening statement to the jury yesterday, prosecutor Kingi Snelgar said the 13 year-old decided the pair should take weapons, chosing a metal pole for himself and a knife for his older friend.
Mr Snelgar said the boys talked about doing the robbery "hard and fast" and getting away quickly to avoid being caught.
He said the 14-year-old went into the dairy twice before the robbery, he said, to scope out the shop beforehand.
On 10 June the boys left home and walked to the dairy. Mr Snelgar said the younger of the two boys stood guard in the entrance to the shop while the robbery took place.
Mr Snelgar told the court the 14-year-old demanded money.
While this was happening, Mrs Kumar went into the back of the shop to get the phone but as she tried to give it to her husband, the older boy swiped it out of her hand.
He then turned on Mr Kumar.
The dairy owner was stabbed three times in the stomach, back and neck. The neck wound severed his jugular vein and he collapsed and died shortly afterwards.
Mrs Kumar is expected to give evidence today about what she saw.
