Death crash accused threatened to hurt someone, court told

Tony Worrell. Photo / Greg Bowker

A man accused of deliberately driving his car at speed into two other vehicles, killing a young woman, said "he was going to f*** someone up" that night, the High Court at Auckland was told today.

Tony Worrell, 50, of Swanson in West Auckland, is facing six charges - murder, causing grievous bodily harm, and four charges of attempted intentional damage.

Katie Powles, 26, died when Worrell's car struck her vehicle in Karaka, south of Auckland, on June 3 last year. Another man, Brett Robinson, was seriously injured.

Witness Ian Cooling today told the court he had been dropped off at Karaka Hall just before 7pm that night to collect his car.

Before he went across to his car, another vehicle pulled up in front of him, he told the court.

"I thought the gentleman was lost and about to ask for directions. I opened the passenger side door to see if I could help him. The first thing I noticed was the smell of alcohol," Mr Cooling said.

"He was ranting and raving and using a lot of hand gestures. He said `he was going to f**k someone up'.

"I tried to convince him to pull over and have a breather. I was fearful of an accident at that stage.

"Other vehicles had to swerve around him. I thought it was getting out of hand so I decided to call 111. I could hear him yelling above the vehicle noise. He was quite aggressive at times."

Mr Cooling said Worrell headed off west, and was driving erratically.

"I remember that drive home very well because I was quite concerned that I might encounter him again," Mr Cooling said.

Worrell's lawyer Hugh Leabourn, asked Mr Cooling if he previously told police Worrell wasn't speaking in full sentences.

Mr Cooling told the court he had made a statement to police that night.

"But in that statement you didn't think it was important to mention that particular sentence he said that `he was going to f**k someone up'?" Mr Leabourn asked.

"I thought that I should have, and I regret not doing it there and then," Mr Cooling said.

"Did you not think it was important to tell police about that sentence as it might be relevant to a murder investigation?" Mr Leabourn asked.

"I was told that I'd be able to explain it in front of a jury in court," Mr Cooling said.

He said he did try to call the police officer back to give him that information.

"So the first time that you've told police about that sentence was this morning?" Mr Leabourn asked.

Mr Leabourn asked Mr Cooling if he had watched the news last night or read the paper this morning, and if he was aware that this was a murder trial.

Mr Cooling said he had not seen any media reports about the case, and he was disgusted by Mr Leabourn's line of questioning.

"I thought today was my chance to explain fully what happened that day," Mr Cooling said.

The trial is expected to last three weeks.

- NZPA