Men who killed partygoer guilty of manslaughter, murder

A jury has found one man guilty of the murder of a man stabbed to death in suburban Auckland two years ago and another guilty of his manslaughter.

The men, both aged 20, were charged after Daryl Graydon was killed while walking home from a party in Howick, southeast Auckland, in December 2007.

Both were also found not guilty by the jury at the High Court in Auckland of the attempted murder of Mr Graydon's colleague Campbell Sussex and not guilty of an alternative charge of attempting to cause him grievous bodily harm.

The names of both men remain suppressed.

Jurors retired about 2.10pm yesterday and reached their decision about 5.15pm today after about 10 hours of deliberation.

Three of the verdicts were unanimous, with an 11-1 majority on the murder charge.

The crown said that the accused men planned the attack on Ridge Road, Howick and armed themselves with knives after one of them was punched by Mr Graydon a little earlier.

Issues of self-defence and lack of intent were raised on behalf of the two accused. One of the accused said a bottle was swung at him by Mr Graydon during the incident, a claim the Crown disputed.

- NZPA