Anthony Bell repeatedly struck in violent ‘flurry of blows’ before death, witness tells trial

The Mobil petrol station forecourt in Maniapoto St, Ōtorohanga where Te Kūiti father-of-six Anthony Bell died after a fight with Benjamin and Frank Sweeney on October 2, 2021. Photo / GoogleMaps

A witness has described the moment Anthony Bell and Benjamin Sweeney fought in a violent “flurry of blows” before Bell hit the ground during a brawl outside a petrol station.

Carole Andreef was sitting in the passenger seat of her car while her husband filled up when she heard loud swearing and yelling, she told the High Court at Hamilton today, where cousins Benjamin and Frank Sweeney are on trial for the manslaughter of Bell.

Andreef said she turned to see what all the noise was and immediately became alarmed at the level of violence and aggression displayed by the two groups of six men who had stopped their two utes to fight.

“I remember thinking this is going to get really bad because it was just so violent and I phoned the police straight away and was talking to the communications operator as it was unfolding ...

“The man in the German [World War II solider’s] helmet was inflicting quite harsh blows to the man [Bell] in the high vis [vest].

“There was just this flurry of blows and yelling and noise.”

Benjamin, who was wearing the helmet, is charged with assault with intent to injure and assault with a weapon, while he and Frank are both charged with manslaughter.

CCTV footage shown to the jury shows when Bell fell the first time Benjamin picked up a hammer and ran to where Bell’s younger brother Victor Tumai was fighting a third man, who is not on trial.

Bell’s other brother Ethan Tumai was edging away from Frank Sweeney on the main street of Ōtorohanga as the incident unfolded in just 39 seconds at about 6.20pm on October 2, 2021.

Andreef’s call to police lasted more than six minutes. She said the 111 call taker told her an ambulance had been dispatched but Andreef said none had arrived at the scene despite the ambulance base being 400 metres away.

She and her husband drove there and Andreef said they asked for the ambulance to go to the scene, “but they wouldn’t”.

Anthony Bell of Te Kūiti (right) was a father of six when he died. Cousins Benjamin and Frank Sweeney are on trial for the manslaughter of Bell. Photo / Supplied

Another witness, whose statement was read to the court by Crown prosecutor Philip Morgan, KC, said she pulled over to help when she saw a man on the ground with blood on his head.

Angelique Benson said she was first aid trained and a former firefighter, and found Bell in the recovery position. She checked for his pulse, finding one.

“I could see a large gash on the left side of his head ... bigger than a $2 coin.”

She said an ambulance drove past the scene and people surrounding Bell became angry at that.

An off-duty paramedic arrived and took over from Benson who tried phoning a police officer but got no answer.

She said Bell’s brother [Ethan Tumai] was agitated and saying: “C’mon brother, just get up. You’re going to be ok”.

“I remember that the male took a gasp at some stage which seemed like a last breath.”

The off-duty paramedic, Vashti Duncan, told the court she could see a head wound on Bell and some blood but no uncontrolled bleeding.

She checked for two types of pulse and could find neither although under cross-examination admitted she told a 111 call operator she had found a weak pulse.

She did not start CPR because clinical guidelines did not recommend it following trauma such as a head injury.

Duncan wanted scissors to cut away Bell’s clothing to see if his chest was rising and falling.

She called for an air ambulance as back-up with a defibrillator and a paramedic capable of intubation.

The police arrived followed by a road ambulance and the fire brigade. An ambulance officer used an airway device on Bell and another began chest compressions, which Duncan helped with. Bell was pronounced dead shortly after.

Earlier in the trial, the court heard an apparent road rage incident was the catalyst for the fight outside the Mobil on Maniapoto St.

But there are two different versions of how that incident played out.

The Tumai brothers testified they and Bell were only overtaken once by the black Volkswagen Amarok as they headed south in Bell’s white work ute between Te Awamutu and Ōtorohanga early that evening.

The Te Kūiti brothers were on the way home from Te Kowhai where they had been to collect a dirt bike for Ethan.

On the way, they stopped in Te Awamutu at the Firkin Sports Bar and Ethan and Bell shared three jugs of beer, or three handles each.

The pair had already drunk a box of 15 Export Gold beers earlier in the day and from the pub they went to a bottle store and bought a pack of 12 pre-mix bourbon and cola drinks.

They then went to Burger King before departing Te Awamutu, which was caught on CCTV.

By chance, moments later the black Amarok ute, containing the Sweeneys and another associate, left Te Awamutu on State Highway 3.

Yesterday, Ethan Tumai told the court the black ute was “up our arse” tailgating, not far out of Te Awamutu.

Under cross-examination, he maintained the black ute only passed them once, at which point he saw the occupants doing the Mongrel Mob Sieg Heil gesture with their hands and wearing gang patches.

But defence lawyer Julie-Anne Kincade put it to both Ethan and Victor, who was the sober driver, that the white ute was swerving so that the black ute could not pass but eventually pulled over to fight, with the black ute speeding off.

This was denied by the brothers.

Kincade said the white ute chased down the black ute, and tailgated it, with the occupants pulling the fingers at the gang members. They also denied this.

She suggested at some point the white ute overtook the black ute and Bell threw his burger wrapping at the black ute.

The black ute passed the white ute on a final passing lane before Ōtorohanga but was slowed down by a truck entering the King Country town, allowing the white ute to catch up.

The truck driver, Adam Benefield, said he noticed the black Amarok behind him because the driver and front seat passenger seemed to be looking for something.

Another witness, Tepa Porter, said he was en route to a 21st in Te Awamutu when he saw the black Amarok in a line of traffic coming toward him.

He said he noticed a hand gesture out the window, in the sign of the Mongrel Mob gesture.

The trial is set down for up to three weeks in front of Justice Mathew Downs.