A boy has confirmed to the High Court in Auckland that he didn't tell police all the truth about what he knew of a fatal west Auckland dairy stabbing.
Arun Kumar Photo: NZ POLICE
In the first of two DVD recorded interviews, the boy - now aged 15 - initially said he wasn't at the dairy where Arun Kumar was stabbed to death in front of his wife on 10 June last year.
In the interview, the witness said his friend told him what happened.
That friend, 14, is charged with murder and assaulting Arun Kumar with intent to rob. Another boy, aged 13, is charged with manslaughter and assault with intent to rob.
Both of the boys, who have denied the charges, have name suppression.
The witness said he was going to his friend's house to pick up his school uniform.
On his way there, he said he spotted his friend running through a carpark.
He said his friend was covered in blood and eventually told him what happened inside the dairy.
The witness denied being at the dairy himself, but said he could see in as he passed and saw a man bleeding on the ground and a woman screaming and crying.
He said when he got to his friend's house his friend was freaking out.
The witness said his friend took a shower but not before his mother saw him covered in blood and 'gave him a growling'.
The witness also mentioned the other accused, whom he said forced his friend to commit the robbery but during the robbery the other boy ran off.
The witness said once his friend was alone in the dairy, he was forced to defend himself after the dairy owner grabbed him.
He said his friend got scared and swung too early.
He said his friend had left trails of blood and that was how the police caught him, eventually turning up to his friend's house with a search warrant.
Later the witness was shown photographs captured by a security camera nearby the dairy. He was able to identify the two accused.
He conceded a third person appeared to be wearing a beanie that looked remarkably similar to his own Manchester United beanie.
Earlier, before his DVD interview began, the witness was introduced to the court in person.
He gave evidence from another room by closed circuit television.
The witness confirmed to Crown prosecutor Kieran Raftery that he hadn't told police all the truth about not being at the dairy.
The court is part way through watching DVD recordings of these interviews and they'll continue tomorrow.
The case has been set down for five weeks.
