Hit-and-run trial opens

The trial of six young men facing charges over the hit-and-run death of businesswoman Joanne Wang opens in the High Court at Auckland today after being delayed a day.

Ms Wang, 39, died of head injuries two days after she was struck by a car in the carpark of the Westfield shopping centre in Manukau on June 16, 2008.

The Crown alleges Christopher Jacob Junior Shadrock, 23, was the driver and he is charged with her murder and with stealing her handbag.

It is alleged Ms Wang was struck while she was trying to retrieve the bag which had been snatched from her in the carpark.

Five others, Vila Lemanu, 25, Mateni Lynch, 20, Terence Tere, 23, Maka Tuikolovatu, 21, and Lionel Tekanawa, 23, are charged with being an accessory after the fact of murder.