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Connor Morris trial: day three

Author
Alex Mason,
Publish Date
Wed, 5 Aug 2015, 4:15PM

Connor Morris trial: day three

Author
Alex Mason,
Publish Date
Wed, 5 Aug 2015, 4:15PM

One of Connor Morris’ friends stopped his partner Millie Elder-Holmes from entering a street fight, moments before he was killed.

Obe Porter was attending a housewarming hosted by Mr Morris’ sister Cymmion at a home in Don Buck Road on the night of August 2nd, 2015.

He and two others decided to pop down the road to the dairy, to pick up some more party supplies.

As they left, he said everyone was having a good time; talking, laughing, playing music.

On their way to the store, Mr Porter saw a group of people standing at the top of a driveway, and warned one of his mates not to look at them, to just keep walking.

That was when Trevor Morunga approached him.

Mr Porter thought the 17 year old was just coming over to say hello, when out of the blue he kicked him in the face.

“He came out, said ‘What’s up’ and I was like ‘Yeah, what’s up’, went to shake hands.

“Then I got punched or kicked, I wasn’t sure at the time … I thought I’d got my teeth kicked out.”

Things escalated quickly after the unprovoked act of violence.

“As we were walking backwards they were coming out, still coming towards us, there was a whole group of them … there must have been at least 10 of them.”

Mr Porter knelt on the ground, spitting out pieces of teeth chipped off by the kick to his face.

Minutes later Mr Morris and others were rushing to defend him.

“He was the first person I saw, he was running down towards me … He yelled ‘Who did it?’”

Mr Porter says Mr Morris sprinted past him, to help their friend who was trying to hold back the large group.

Millie Elder-Holmes had followed her boyfriend down the street, was watching the fighting and yelling at him to stop.

Mr Porter said she looked as though she wanted to enter the fracas and pull him out of the melee.

“I sort of grabbed her back and I said ‘Don’t go in there. These guys are just … they will attack you, it doesn’t matter if you’re a girl or a guy’.

“So I said ‘Just hang back, don’t get yourself hurt.’”

Within minutes Mr Morris was dead on the ground, struck in the back of the head with the blade of a sickle.

Michael Murray was the one wielding the farming tool, and is on trial for Mr Morris’ murder.

Mr Porter didn’t see what happened, having raced across the road to help a friend who he says was fighting off at least two others.

He says he turned and saw Mr Morris had been hit; saw someone on the grass verge swinging something, but couldn’t see what it was.

Mr Porter told the court of the moment he realised how badly the 26 year old was injured.

He said when he saw Mr Morris lying on the ground he thought he was just knocked out.

His voice wavered today as he remembered how he went to roll his friend over into the recovery position.

“When I went to put my arm under his head I felt the back of his head and I didn’t … I just thought no, I won’t. Better not to move him.”

Mr Porter says Ms Elder-Holmes was there too.

“She was at his head and she was screaming.”

A resident of the street where Mr Morris was killed remembers hearing “an almighty scream” that fateful night.

Zane Williams told the High Court he ran from his home, to the roadside.

“I seen (sic) one male laying face down on the ground and a female over the top of him, shouting, screaming.

“And then with about four or five other big males surrounding him.”

He said the men on the street turned and appeared to swarm towards him, prompting him to run inside and lock the door.

A security guard today described seeing a group repeatedly beat an unconscious man during the uncontrolled violence.

Matthew Brown told the High Court what he witnessed that night, as men armed with sticks and baseball bats attacked others.

He said he saw one person take a hell of a beating from a large group.

“They lifted him up and threw him against a sign. And then his body basically slumped to the ground, no movement.

“And then they lifted him up again and threw him against the wall of the building.”

Mr Brown said he saw people egging on a dog to bite people, and saw it latch onto one man.

The defence also painted a picture of a brutal street fight.

Jason “Karl” Teiho Le-Noel, who had been celebrating his 21st birthday with a small group of family and friends, was caught up in the brawl.

Lawyer Kathryn Maxwell asked him about what he can remember of that night.

“Do you recall being struck, spinning around and trying to get up again … Do you recall someone booting the back of your head?”

Mr Teiho Le-Noel remembers what he describes as “just a beating”.

The defence says Mr Teiho Le-Noel’s memory is patchy because he sustained several injuries in the fighting.

More details have emerged about what caused the drunken street brawl which left a young man dead.

The High Court heard yesterday how Trevor Morunga kicked one of Mr Morris’ friends in the head, unprovoked, on a west Auckland street.

That man was Obe Porter.

Mr Teiho Le-Noel has today revealed he encouraged his younger brother to lash out.

Having drunk two 18-drink boxes of Cody’s mixers, Mr Teiho Le-Noel was feeling very drunk.

As the trio from the Morris house warming walked down the road towards them, he shared his idea with his 17 year old brother.

“I just told him ‘Look, watch this, I’ll kick them’. And then he ended up kicking them first…

“I was intoxicated at the time, I was already playing up down at my sister’s house.

“I don’t know, it was just bad vibes going around all night that night.”

Trevor Morunga had already been punched twice that night by one of his cousins.

Ms Elder-Holmes is expected to take the stand tomorrow morning.

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