Jury retires early after toothache

The jury considering whether three men are guilty of murdering a man in Auckland last year has retired early for the night after one of them developed an acute toothache.

The jury in the High Court in Auckland retired shortly after 1pm today to consider their verdicts on the charges against Ahmad Matlobyaygazwini, Tuale Fuimaono and Ali Rafiee.

The trio are accused of murdering Bjorn Henderson in suburban Ellerslie on March 9 last year.

Justice Graham Lang said the juror needed dental attention and as that juror needed to be present to discuss the case, he ordered them to finish deliberations for the night when they left the courthouse for dinner.

Prosecutors say Mr Henderson was lured to the Ellerslie-Panmure Highway address by the three accused, who planned to exact retribution after Mr Henderson had assaulted Matlobyaygazwini and had stolen cash and drugs from him three days beforehand.

Fuimaono has admitted striking the blows, which caused head injuries to Mr Henderson but says he is guilty of manslaughter not murder, as he did not intend to kill him and was not involved in any retribution plan.

His lawyer, Stuart Grieve, said Fuimaono had taken a plank of wood which Mr Henderson had swung at him and then swung back, hitting Mr Henderson three times.

Lawyers for Matlobyaygazwini and Rafiee say there was no evidence their clients had made any plans for retribution.

Mr Henderson's body was dumped at Auckland Hospital seven hours after the attack by a colleague known to all the parties. He was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.

The jury will resume deliberations tomorrow morning.

- NZPA