Victim was ‘Jake the Muss’

Drugs, violence and a Once Were Warriors upbringing led a young man to kill his abusive father, a court has heard.

The man, who has name suppression, killed his father last year at his Auckland home after hours of violence and threats had been inflicted on him and his family. The Crown says it was murder, while the defence claims the young man was trying to save his life, and his family.

‘‘If you are familiar with the iconic film Once Were Warriors ,a film which showcased family violence at its worse, then you will be familiar with the main character, Jake the Muss,’’ the defendant’s lawyer, Elaine Ward, said. ‘‘The evidence will show the deceased was a bully, he was a monster. He terrorised his family. At the opposite end of the spectrum, you have the defendant. He was in fulltime employment, he had never been in trouble with the law before.

‘‘He shunned his father’s lifestyle. He loves his family and feels protective over his mother.’’

Crown prosecutor Gareth Kayes told the jury he accepted the deceased had been involved with domestic violence and drug abuse for some time.

However, what the young man did to his father ‘‘went too far’’.

On the day he died, the deceased arrived home from work and seriously assaulted his wife. ‘‘He punched her in the face a number of times, and kicked her a number of times,’’ Kayes said. The woman took her young child and older daughter and made her way to her son, the defendant’s house on foot.

But the deceased found his wife and two daughters on the street where another altercation took place then the deceased left.

The woman and her two children got to the defendant’s house, where he was living with his sister and her husband.

The deceased then turned up and began threatening and yelling at the family.

The family hid while the threats continued.

‘‘He stood outside on the deck yelling at the family, banging on the walls, the family were all inside at this point. They had locked the doors and turned off the lights.’’

The man then began to damage the defendant’s car.

‘‘The defendant tried to confront his father but family members intervened.’’

The police were called at 9.19pm by a family member hiding inside the house.

The family told the man police were on the way, and saw a car leaving the property.

‘‘They assumed he had gone.’’ However, before police arrived the defendant took a large knife and went outside.

What exactly happened next was unknown, Kayes said.

The defendant claims his father came out of the darkness and punched him. He then began to assault him, the young man retaliated by stabbing him.

Family members rushed out of the house and found the deceased lying on the ground.

‘‘Laying on the ground was the father stabbed and bleeding out.’’

Kayes told the jury the case boiled down to whether the son was acting out of self defence or not. ‘‘This trial is not about who killed the victim, the defendant accepts he killed his father.’’

The Crown will argue the young man had murderous intent when he attacked his father.

‘‘His response was in no way reasonable to the threat posed,’’ Kayes said. The evidence will be the man suffered six stab wounds from the knife, with a fatal wound to his heart.

The jury were warned by Kayes not to be swayed by emotion. In court, the defendant was visibly distraught.

‘‘A murder is still a murder. ‘‘Even if it was unplanned, impulsive or instantly regretted.

‘‘There is no dispute [the deceased] was treating his family appallingly. He was aggressive, loud, rude and nasty. You will hear the father had been violent on occasions previously.’’