Source: Radio New Zealand
The defence lawyers say the staff were using legal restraint to keep themselves and the teens safe in a high risk situation. File photo. RNZ
Seven Oranga Tamariki workers are accused of bashing two teens – or failing to stop them being bashed – in a tiny phone room at Korowai Manaaki in Wiri.
Prosecutors said the staff had gratuitously assaulted the boys after the teens had barricaded themselves in the two-by-1.5 metre room for more than an hour.
When the staff eventually got the door open, the six male defendants “stormed the booth in quick succession” and when they emerged, the teens appeared slumped over and injured.
But defence lawyers said the staff were using legal restraint to keep themselves and the teens safe in a high risk situation where the boys were destroying the booth, setting off sprinklers and flooding the unit.
Joseph Kirifi, Tapu Brown, Aidan Va, Quentin Schmidt, Susana Sofara, and two others with name suppression are on trial at the Manukau District Court and today pleaded not guilty to two charges of ill treatment or neglect of a child on 23 May 2023.
The crown told the jury that the charge meant each defendant had either assaulted the young people themselves, or failed to take reasonable steps to stop others hurting them.
Crown prosecutor Katie Karpik said the 16- and 17-year-old boys, who have name suppression, had been refusing to come out of the booth on the day in question, setting off the sprinklers.
They both had convictions for violence, were difficult to managed and one had escaped onto the roof before, she said.
When staff were finally able to open the door, the staff were frustrated and “elevated”, she said
“Despite there being only two youths in that small phone booth room they became significantly outnumbered by the defendants, she said.
“All seven defendant were in the room at one stage….and all six male defendants were in it for three minutes with two youths.”
Witnesses in the following days noticed black eyes and other injuries, she said
“The crown suggests such injuries are the result of gratuitous assaults and not necessary and reasonable levels of force.”
One of the defendants, Aidan Va, already had a conviction that for harming a boy at Korowai Manaaki about a month earlier, she said
He had arranged and filmed a one-on-one fight between two boys, she said.
She noted that did not mean he was guilty of the latest charges.
Relating to today’s case, he had sent a text to a friend saying he had “f***ed up” two boys and it was “crack up,” Karpik said.
The investigation that led to today’s charges was not sparked by a complaint from the boys, but other case workers had noticed their injuries.
When asked about them, the boys had lied and blamed them on things like falling off a chair, she said.
“They appreciated snitching was not the done thing,” she said.
No solid evidence, says defence
Each defendant has their own lawyer, and many wanted to make clear each defence was likely to be unique.
But most pointed out that, under law, the justice facility staff are entitled to use force against young people as long as it is reasonable.
They noted their clients were well trained and had used known, safe tactics to restrain the boys.
Joseph Kirifi’s lawyer Rasyad Ismail said his client was responding to a fast past situation that had escalated in the unit.
“Staff had no choice but to force entry into the room,” he said.
“The situation unfolded in a custodial environment where staff are sometimes required to intervene quickly to manage behaviour and to maintain safety,” he said.
Each of the boys had a long history of serious violence, including escaping custody, he said.
Several of the lawyers noted prosecutors did not know what happened in the booth – so, they could not separate who was alleged to have done the assault and who was alleged to have allowed it.
Shannon Withers, defending one of the men with name suppression, said the Crown case was “inferences at best, guesses and speculation at worst.”
He noted there were a lot of small people in a very small space where the boys had been destructive. That meant there could have been accidental injuries.
Emma Priest, for another with name suppression, noted the text messages the Crown was relying on for some of its case should be taken with a grain of salt.
They could be black humour among friends, she said, noting the use of emojis.
The trial is likely to take several weeks.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
