Butcher loses manslaughter appeal

A Timaru man, Ashley Jordan Moffat, has lost an appeal against his manslaughter conviction.

Moffat, 18, a butcher, John Oliver Jamieson, 21, fisherman, Morgan Christopher James Parker, 18, freezing worker, Simon Antony Anglem, 18, labourer, Nicholas John Peters, 19, freezing worker, and Daniel Raymond Kreegher, 20, boner, were found not guilty of the murder but guilty of the manslaughter of Wayne Kerry Bray following a trial in Christchurch late last year.

Mr Bray, 26, died four days after he was punched, kicked and stomped on a Timaru street last year.

Moffat appealed on the grounds that the trial judge erred in ruling that his lawyer Pip Hall could not lead evidence relating to Jamieson's previous convictions, The Timaru Herald reported.

Mr Hall said his cross-examination of Jamieson would have assisted the jury in finding the fatal blows inflicted on Mr Bray came from Jamieson.

More powerful evidence against Jamieson would have distracted from the Crown's theory that Moffat was involved in the killing, he said.

The court found the admission would not have altered the outcome and dismissed the appeal.

- NZPA