Dunedin bus hub stabbing: 14yo facing murder charge addresses court for first time

Officers at a scene of an incident near the Duneidn Police station in which at least one person was injured. New Zealand Herald photograph by Ben Tomsett. May 23, 2024

A 14-year-old boy accused of murder over a fatal stabbing began carrying a knife to protect himself from bullies, a court has heard.

On May 23 last year, the then-13-year-old fatally stabbed 16-year-old Enere Taana-McLaren at the Dunedin bus hub on Great King St. A jury must now decide if the act was done in self-defence.

The trial began last week in the Dunedin High Court with the defendant claiming his reaction was linked to PTSD from past assaults and bullying.

Defence counsel Anne Stevens KC told the jury the defendant, who has name suppression, had elected to give his own evidence.

The defendant was hidden from the public gallery by a screen.

The defendant spoke about his family and schooling prior to moving to New Zealand, saying he was bullied throughout primary school by older students who would call him names, push him around, and steal his lunch.

Police officers at the scene of the fatal stabbing in Dunedin's bus hub last year. Photo / Ben Tomsett

His family relocated to New Zealand in May 2023 and settled in Dunedin, the court heard.

He attended a Dunedin school which he described as good and with dedicated teachers, though he soon faced bullying from a group of older students.

Initially, he thought they were trying to befriend him, but their jokes became increasingly racist, the court heard.

The defendant recounted an incident in a park where he was playing basketball with these same boys.

He said they dared him to take an abandoned bike, and did so because he did not want to look like a “loser”.

He said he pushed the bike home because he did not know how to ride it.

The next day he was confronted by the deputy principal, and his mother returned the bike.

The defendant told the court of a later incident where he encountered those same boys at a park that ended in an assault.

He said the boys searched his bag, took his snacks, and then attacked him - punching, kicking, and putting him in a chokehold.

Enere Taana-McLaren, 16, was killed following an incident at the Dunedin bus hub last year. Photo / Supplied

One of the boys brandished a knife while another recorded the assault, he said.

The defendant told his mother his swollen eye was from a bee sting, but when she discovered the truth she took him to the police.

He said that after the robbery, he became increasingly isolated, staying in his room out of fear of further attacks.

His mother encouraged him to stand up for himself, prompting him to teach himself boxing through YouTube tutorials.

“I started using more slang and started walking with confidence and started being cocky because I wanted others to see me as tough so that they wouldn’t want to bully me or have problems with me.”

A few months later, he started carrying a knife, claiming it gave him confidence and a sense of security.

“I normally just grabbed any knife from the kitchen drawer, it wasn’t any particular knife, sometimes it was a butter knife,” he said.

He said he initially stored the knife he was carrying in his waistband, but started storing it in his black canvas bag after he cut himself.

He said he did not tell his parents he was taking knives.

In April, he said he encountered one of his bullies at the bus hub who confronted him, but after flashing the knife the other boy left.

“I thought that if he saw the knife and walked away, I should just keep doing it if anyone else wanted to smash me over.”

Stevens told the jury they had three questions to decide: What were the circumstances as the defendant believed them to be? Bearing these circumstances in mind, was he acting in self-defence? And finally, was the force the defendant used reasonable?

She told the jury that in the coming days they would also be hearing evidence from the defendant’s mother, the defendant’s school councillor, a forensic psychiatrist, and two others who have alleged they were previously assaulted by Taana-McLaren at the bus hub, including a 68-year-old man.

The defendant will continue giving evidence on Thursday.

Ben Tomsett is a multimedia journalist for the New Zealand Herald, based in Dunedin.

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