The judge has reserved his decision in the trial of a man accused of being a lookout in a violent dairy robbery in Auckland last year.
Ngatama Kaienua, 28, on trial at the Auckland High Court. Photo: RNZ / Anneke Smith
Ngatama Kaienua stood trial in the High Court at Auckland this week after pleading not guilty to aggravated wounding and assault with intent to rob.
The 28-year-old stood outside Grey Lynn's Hylite Dairy while a teenager went into the family-run business with a kitchen knife just after 7pm on 19 June last year.
Siddhartha Patel was stabbed six times behind the counter before the knife was turned on his mother Gita when she came running to his aid.
Mr Kaienua is accused of orchestrating a plan to rob the store with the teenager in the hours leading up to the attack.
The Crown has argued that while the Ōtāhuhu man never entered the dairy, he is liable through assisting and encouraging the teenager in the attempted robbery.
Mr Kaienua has maintained the stabbing caught him by total surprise and explained his calm demeanour, as captured by CCTV cameras, on a fear of being wrongly implicated in the crime.
Justice Gault heard closing remarks from counsel this morning and is expected to deliver his decision within two weeks.
