By Mihingarangi Forbes of RNZ
Warning: Video contains graphic and distressing content that may be upsetting.
Early one Saturday evening back in March 2022, Ange McAllister’s phone started buzzing from a number she didn’t recognise.
She wasn’t feeling well and was trying to rest, so she ignored it. But the caller was insistent, ringing and ringing, so Ange eventually answered.
What she heard was a jumble of words, and the sound of tears and distress.
As she comprehended what was being said, and the message sank in, Ange’s world collapsed.
She stumbled into the lounge to tell her husband, Noel, what she’d just been told: “Perenara’s dead.”
Their 30-year-old son – the matāmua (eldest) of their Te Puke whānau; the boy who’d grown up at the marae helping Noel mow the lawns, and had gone off to chase his dream of becoming a farmer before a brain-injury turned his life upside down – had been stabbed to death.
But even though he was killed in front of witnesses and the incident was captured on CCTV, the whānau is still seeking answers, still desperate for someone to take responsibility.
Police arrested a man at the scene that night and issued a press statement saying charges “are being considered”.
But soon after, the man – who could be heard on the CCTV admitting to stabbing Perenara – was released without charge.
Perenara (Tapuika) died moments after a chaotic, violent incident at emergency accommodation near Hamilton.
He had tried to intervene to calm the situation and protect a woman. His whānau were told by police he had done the right thing and died a hero.
But that did not take away the pain of their grief, or their frustration over the outcome of the investigation.
“The head detective came here maybe a week [after the tangi] … and they told us that our son did what any decent person would do but they’re not going to charge the guy, they’re letting him go,” Noel told Mata Reports. “We were in shock.”
The McAllisters say police told them it was self-defence, but after watching the CCTV they disagree.
“We watched it and that confirmed to me that they’d made a mistake,” Noel said.
Perenara’s mother, Ange, said watching the footage was difficult. “I was so proud of our son because the whole time he was calm and where other people stood back and did nothing, he did something. There’s no way it was self-defence.”
The whānau has been pushing for answers. Finally, last month, they had a breakthrough when Hamilton-Kirikiriroa Coroner Louella Dunn decided there would be an inquest, following questions from Mata Reports. No date has been set.
A Mata Reports video investigation into the case includes footage from the CCTV, and interviews with a witness and a private investigator who has been helping the whānau, Terry Reardon.
“I think the decision the police made was wrong,” said Reardon, a former detective. “This sort of thing should go in front of a jury and let the court decide.”
Perenara intervened after a woman also staying at the emergency accommodation property went to confront another man with a knife. Perenara held her in a bear hug, but she wrestled free and went into the man’s cabin.
Inside the cabin, she was disarmed and ended up on the ground. The man picked up the knife.
By that time, another person had rushed to get a spade, and gave it to Perenara. He went inside the cabin with the spade held across his body. Seconds later, he staggered out of the cabin with a fatal wound and collapsed.
The witness who saw the incident says he believed Perenara was trying to de-escalate the situation and save the woman.
“I think he was just trying to save her, trying to help her,” the witness told Mata.
He questioned whether the man who stabbed Perenara should be in the community.
Police refused several interview requests from Mata, and declined to answer questions about whether the decision was based on self-defence.
Instead, they sent a statement, saying: “Police investigated this matter fully, exploring all available evidence. Then, after seeking legal advice, police did not proceed with any charges. We extend our sympathies to the whānau of the deceased.”
Mata also interviewed a defence lawyer, Quentin Duff. He said he believed the police decision was the right one, because it could be argued the man acted in self-defence.
“The police have an obligation when they are considering prosecuting somebody to look at all of the circumstances … and then make a decision as to whether there is a realistic chance of a conviction,” said Duff. “If there isn’t, then it’s irresponsible of the police and the Crown to continue with the prosecution.”
But Reardon says he believes it should have gone before a jury.
“The justice system hasn’t really had the opportunity to kick-in on this one yet because the police have put a bit of a roadblock up,” Reardon said.
Meanwhile, the McAllisters are left holding on to their loss, and the many questions they still have.
Perenara was living in emergency accommodation after being released from prison where he’d ended up after a car accident left him with a brain injury that sent him down a troubled path.
His whānau supported him and wanted him to come back to Te Puke, but his release conditions prevented it.
“We weren’t allowed,” Ange said. If he had been, she says, they could have been helping him get well and back on track.
Instead, he ended up in a dangerous situation that cost him his life.
The only charges the police did lay in the case were against the woman who took the knife into the cabin, prosecuting her for aggravated burglary and threatening to kill.
She was sentenced to 18 months intensive supervision.
Ange and Noel were at her sentencing and asked that she not be sent to prison.
“I said to her … that basically Perenara gave his life up for hers and I asked her to use that to get help because that’s what he would have wanted,” Ange said.
“I was close to her [in court] and I could feel her mamae [pain] and I just wanted her to get well.”
The McAllisters and their wider whānau feel their own pain will not go away “until we get justice”.
“Ka whawhai tonu mātou,” Ange said. (We will keep fighting).
Mata made repeated attempts to contact the man who stabbed Perenara but was unable to speak with him.
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