Two men accused of murdering Auckland barber Brian James two days before Christmas have pleaded not guilty at their first High Court appearance.
Angelo Junior Thomsen, and another man who was granted interim name suppression, also denied joint charges with a third man for wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm to two others at the Glass Rd property in Mt Roskill.
James, 23, was shot and killed at a Kainga Ora property after a late-night altercation. Two other people received non life-threatening injuries.
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.
