A 14-year-old boy has been found guilty of manslaughter after stabbing a schoolboy to death at Dunedin’s central bus hub.
The defendant, who cannot be named, was on trial in the High Court for two weeks over the killing of 16-year-old Enere Taana-McLaren in May last year.
After two days of deliberation, the jury returned its verdict this morning, clearing him of murder but convicting him of manslaughter.
Justice Rob Osborne did not formally enter the conviction after the boy’s lawyer, Anne Stevens KC, pointed out that it could lead to deportation. The defendant, a migrant, was granted bail until sentencing in July, with name suppression continuing.
The jury’s decision means they rejected his self-defence claim but accepted that he had not intended to kill Enere or acted with the recklessness needed to secure a murder conviction.
The defendant showed little emotion, giving a small nod when the verdict was read.
No hesitation before launching the fatal attack
CCTV footage showed the boy arriving at the bus hub on the afternoon of May 23, intending to change buses to visit a friend.
Within 60 seconds, Enere had been stabbed in the stomach.
The court heard that as the defendant walked past, Enere made a comment about his clothing. But rather than ignore it, board his waiting bus, or even enter the nearby police station, the boy turned back and walked 20 metres toward Enere.
“In real terms that’s what kicked off the physical confrontation,” Crown prosecutor Richard Smith told the jury.
“If he was actually frightened of Enere, actually scared he was going to get the bash . . . then he didn’t need to go back. What the Crown says is that [the defendant] was up for a fight.”
The boy reached into his shoulder bag, pulled out a 31cm kitchen knife, and immediately lunged at Enere.
“There was no warning before he attacked,” Smith said.
“No fear, no hesitation, just straight on the attack.”
Enere stepped back, retreating into the middle of Great King Street.
He attempted to kick the defendant in the head, but the younger boy kept swinging the blade.
The first attempt missed, but the second struck, slicing through a major vein.
Enere collapsed and later died in hospital.
The gang persona and a pattern of carrying knives
The trial heard about an apparent earlier violent mugging, in which the defendant was beaten and robbed by a group of boys in Halfway Bush Park.
He was later diagnosed with PTSD, but instead of staying out of trouble, he adopted what psychiatrists described as a “gangster persona.”
He spent months watching violent videos online, training himself physically, and most importantly—carrying a knife.
Just weeks before the stabbing, he had been confronted by a school bully at the same bus hub. That time, he revealed a knife tucked into his waistband, and the other boy backed off.
Anne Stevens KC told the jury that the defendant had expected the same reaction when he pulled the blade on Enere.
When that didn’t happen, she argued, he panicked and swung out of fear.
The teenager told the court he never thought one stab wound could be fatal.
-365Omni.Media Network
