Court rules liquor store owner Singh will not stand trial

Virender Singh (L) pictured with a friend after being charged last year. He said he was acting in self-defence. Photo / NZPA

Liquor store owner Virender Singh will not stand trial.

Justice of the Peace M. Sinclair said after hearing conflicting and contradictory evidence in the Manukau District Court, there was no case for Mr Singh to answer.

Singh faced two charges of injuring with intent to injure over the incident at his Otara store last September. He denied the charges on the grounds he acted in self-defence.

Singh's lawyer Greg King argued Singh exercised his basic human right by defending himself and his shop from five drunken teenagers.

Mr King said it was not clear if it had been his client that caused the major injuries to one of the teenagers.

He said if Singh had hit one of the boy's on the back then he was justified given the potential threat to him and his family.

Mr King said one of the boys had told the court that he had gotten hit only after he tried to run into the shop.

He said Singh had two young daughters in the back of his shop and he had just been stabbed.

Mr King reminded two Justices of the Peace that the brawl had only taken place two months after liquor shop owner Navtesh Singh was shot dead in his shop.

He said the boys had threatened to come back with more friends.

"I'm not going to insult your worships' intellect by directing you in self defence but in my submission there could not be a clearer case."

Crown prosecutor Deborah Marshall said there was no robbery planned by the two boys who were hit.

She said other witnesses had seen Singh strike the boys with his hockey stick, one of whom had lost four teeth.

She said one boy entered the shop and posed no threat because he was so "wasted" he couldn't stand up.

She said the other boy only wanted to find out what happened to his friend. Miss Marshall said Singh had also told police that he wanted to "teach the boys a lesson".

This morning part of an interview Singh gave to police shortly after the brawl was played to the court.

He described pulling up to his shop and seeing his nephew trying to hold a teenager down. He said he went to call police but three teenagers jumped on him and started hitting him.

After grabbing a hockey stick kept for self-defence, Singh said he noticed he had been stabbed in the thigh.

Singh told Detective Nick Poland that the second time he called police he was asked what had happened.

"I said they stabbed me. They've got a knife."

He also described how he saw one boy smash the window of the dairy next door with a piece of wood before throwing it at his sister-in-law and hitting her in the face.

He said he chased the boys with a hockey stick but they kept coming back.

Singh told the detective that two gang members had also come to his assistance and chased the boys away.

He said one of the gang members had a hammer and the other had a baseball bat.

Singh said during his third call to police he asked "are you waiting for someone to die?" He told Detective Poland that he waited 15 minutes for the police to arrive.

While chasing the three boys Singh said his nephew was holding a fourth boy on the ground.

When asked how the boy had one tooth lodged in his lip and another broken off, Singh said the boy might have fallen over because he was intoxicated.

He said the boy was facedown on the concrete, while his nephew sat down on top of him.

When asked how blood had gotten onto his hockey stick, Singh said a neighbour had the stick at one point and might have rested it on the ground where there was blood.

"I didn't hit him, I only chased the fulla with the knife."

Singh said he did not know who had hit the boy in the mouth.

He was also asked about his definition of self defence "If my life is in danger, what option do I have?"

He said he was stabbed in the thigh while his nephew got cut on his hand.

Asked why he chased the boys with a hockey stick when they were running away, Singh said he wanted to "teach them a lesson".

"My actions were not to kill them, only to teach them a lesson not to do it again."

Later he said: "I was really angry, yes. Why it's happened to us?"

He said he was angry because he had to wait for police and he had been stabbed.

He confirmed he did hit one of the boys who had a knife, but only on his back and legs.

"Five or six times" with "as much force as I can use."