December 24 2021
Two assailants burst into a Mt Roskill house and shot dead a young man and attacked two others with a machete. Video: NZ Herald / Hayden Woodward
A man who has denied murdering Auckland barber Brian James two nights before Christmas Day can be named.
Name suppression for Apisaloma Timoti, who has been jointly charged over the death, lapsed ahead of a bail application hearing at the High Court in Auckland this morning.
Justice Neil Campbell has reserved his decision on the application.
Promising young barber Brian James, 23, was shot and killed in a property on Glass Rd in Mt Roskill on December 23.
Two others were seriously injured in the violent attack at the house and taken to hospital.
James had been working at Moe's Barber shop in Mt Eden for about six months, alongside owner Moe Ball.
"He was a very strong person and he was well loved. He was cheeky, very cheeky, but it was all love. He had our backs through everything, he just wanted the best for everyone," Te Kahukoka-Rose Yelash, the cousin of James' girlfriend, said at the time of his death.
Brian James, 23, worked at Moe's Barbershop in Mt Eden. Photo / Supplied
Police investigations were carried out in the area on Christmas Day.
"It's Christmas Day and a family is grieving, and a community is distressed because of what has happened in their neighbourhood," Detective Inspector Scott Beard said at the time.
Three men have been charged in relation to the incident.
Angelo Junior Thomsen, 42, and Timoti, 33, are jointly charged with James' murder and two counts of wounding with intent to injure in relation to two other victims.
Both have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Thomsen was arrested on January 26 after allegedly being on the run for weeks following James' death.
Homicide and forensic police at Glass Rd, Mt Roskill on Christmas Eve. Photo / Alex Burton
A third man, Robin Leota, 39, was also arrested.
The South Aucklander was charged with being accessory after the fact to murder and unlawful possession of a firearm after police allegedly found a loaded sawn-off shotgun.
He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
A four-week trial has been set down for July, 2023.
