Jury told robbers drank after Singh killing

Helicopters circling overhead did not stop a group of men from drinking stolen alcohol after being involved in a 2008 robbery in which South Auckland liquor store owner Navtej Singh was shot and killed, a court was told yesterday.

Fred Pelu Va was the first witness to be called on the second day of a six-week jury trial in the High Court at Auckland. Mr Pelu Va said he was angry when his friends suggested "doing the liquor store" after they ran out of alcohol.

The men had been drinking in his garage after a child's birthday party, and he said he told them not to go.

Six men - Tino Faamele Felise, 19, Eti Filoa, 25, Walter McCarthy, 19, Anitelea Chan-Kee, 22, Myron Robert Felise, 22, and Jason Naseri, 21 - are accused of murdering Mr Singh and aggravated robbery.

A seventh man, Mefiposeta Chan-Kee, 26, is charged with being an accessory after the killing.

Mr Singh, 30, was shot while working in his Riverton liquor store in Manurewa East in June 2008. He died the next day.

- NZPA