Dairy owner trial: Teens were 'hoping to get rich': witness

Arun Kumar was allegedly stabbed to death in his Henderson dairy.

A boy who was with two teens before they allegedly killed a west Auckland dairy owner says the pair were hoping to get rich.

The 14-year-old witness was interviewed by police the day after the incident, which left Arun Kumar bleeding to death from a neck wound on the floor of the Railside Dairy.

The recording of the interview was played for the jury in the High Court at Auckland today.

A 14-year-old boy is on trial charged with murdering Arun Kumar, while his 13-year-old co-accused faces a charge of manslaughter after the June 10 incident at the Henderson dairy almost a year ago.

The pair, who have name suppression, also face counts of assault with intent to rob.

In a recording from the interview, the witness, whose name is also suppressed, said the pair thought they would get rich from the robbery.

"They were discussing how much money they would get," he said.

"They were like, 'yeah, we're going to be rich'."

The witness said the younger boy boasted how easy the dairy would be to rob.

"They were discussing how they could do it, [how they could] smash the window and stuff like that," he said.

"[The younger boy] was saying how easy it would be; that the owner would be easy to rob.

"He said it might change their life."

The witness described how the boys took a metal pole they were going to use to "whack over the shopkeeper" to the dairy.

"[One boy] put the pole down his pants and wrapped a blanket around him. He took the pole out at the dairy and wrapped the blanket around it and went in."

After the robbery, the pair, who were covered in blood, ran back to the house they were staying at in Henderson, the witness said.

The witness initially told police he was not there but later admitted he had followed the boys to the dairy and back to the older defendant's home as they fled.

The teens, who were aged 12 and 13 at the time of Kumar's death, have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Their lawyers say they lacked the "knowledge and intention" to commit the crimes. The trial is scheduled to last about a month.