A man who was originally charged with being the owner of a dog that caused injury to a person has had his charge upgraded to manslaughter after a man died from allegedly being mauled by his pack of dogs.
Abel Wira, 59, first appeared in Kaitāia District Court in December 2023 where he refused to get in the dock and was held in custody in contempt.
Wira attempted to raise a defence of being “a living man” which was rejected by Judge Gene Tomlinson who warned Wira, that the charges he was facing were serious.