Momona fatal stabbing: Man pleads guilty to manslaughter after driving dispute

A 21-year-old who fatally stabbed a man in Momona following a driving dispute has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

The defendant, who appeared by video link from Invercargill, was originally charged with murder, but this morning in the High Court at Dunedin, the charge was amended in front of Justice Cameron Mander.

Name suppression will continue until sentencing in October, but Crown prosecutor Craig Power said a final order keeping the man’s identity under wraps would be opposed.

The court heard the bad blood began last year with a road rage incident in Mosgiel.

The defendant mistakenly believed a 22-year-old neighbour was behind the wheel of the other vehicle and later confronted the man’s mother, swearing at her and leaving her upset.

The incident occurred in Momona in October last year. Photo / Otago Daily Times Linda Robertson

When the woman told her husband about the argument on October 15, he and their son went to the man’s home.

After seeing them arrive, the defendant ran inside the house and grabbed a 20-centimetre kitchen knife from a drawer.

A heated argument ensued.

The victim told the man he had been wrong about the earlier driving accusations and urged him to put down the weapon.

Two other people briefly entered the scene but left before the violence erupted.

When the defendant backed off inside his home, waving the knife in front of him, the victim and his son followed.

One armed himself with an aluminium broom while the other threw a terracotta pot, which hit the man’s back.

After being cornered, the defendant thrust wildly with the blade two or three times, the court heard.

One of those lunges got the victim in the stomach and he collapsed, just metres away.

The defendant and others called an ambulance but the man could not be saved.

Justice Mander ordered a Probation report which would consider the option of home detention, but Power said the Crown would argue imprisonment was the only appropriate outcome.

The defendant will remain on bail until sentencing.