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An Auckland man yesterday recounted calling in vain to his friend Melissa Viall moments before she was struck and killed by a vehicle that police say was deliberately driven into a crowd of people outside an East Auckland bar.
Kelvin Hitchen described watching as Ms Viall, 23, was thrown 15m by the force of the impact.
He told a High Court jury the car - allegedly driven by Darin Gardner - made two runs through a crowd of people gathering around a fight on Pakuranga Rd, Highland Park, early on October 8 last year.
Gardner, 25, is accused of murdering Ms Viall and 19-year-old Kane Wright when he drove into the crowd - allegedly to rescue a friend being beaten up.
He faces additional charges of injuring with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and injuring with intent.
The man being beaten, Anton Degraaff, and another, James Rixon, each face charges of injuring with intent. All three deny the charges.
Mr Hitchen told the court he watched as a small, red hatchback travelling "at least 50[km/h]" ploughed through the crowd of spectators about 3.30am, then turned to make another run, as people - including Ms Viall - tried to help the injured.
He said he had shouted a warning to Ms Viall and others.
"I don't think too many people heard it. A lot of people were concentrating on who was out there who had been hit.
"The car came through the crowd again and hit a couple of people again, including Melissa."
Although she appeared to be moving out of the way, the impact knocked her "10 to 15 metres".
Mr Hitchen, Ms Viall and another man, Nigel Burson, had been drinking at Taboo Bar before Ms Viall's death, and all three had left after 2.30am to find a taxi.
"We walked past these three guys ... and one of the guys started abusing us," Mr Burson said when he gave evidence yesterday. One of the three confronted him directly.
"He clenched his fists, puffed his chest out, all angry ... We tussled for a bit and then we fell to the ground, and that's all I remember."
Mr Hitchen said he saw the man a short time later standing in the middle of Pakuranga Rd shouting "bring it on" at others in the crowd. Mr Hitchen watched the man fighting for "quite a while" before being knocked to the ground. "That was about the time I saw the car coming."
Carpenter Carl Wartnaby was one of those struck by the car. He had watched as the vehicle approached, "but at the time I never assumed it was going to drive through them all".
"All I can remember is seeing the car at the last minute and trying to avoid being hit directly by it."
