Murder charge dropped

A man accused of the murder of his Hawkes Bay neighbour has walked free after charges against him were dropped.

Zion Hiona King, 48, had been accused of stabbing Chattrice Maihi-Carroll, 46, to death in her home in the Napier suburb of Onekawa in January last year.

In the High Court at Napier yesterday, Justice Denis Clifford granted a defence application for a discharge.

The defence had argued that evidence from prosecution witnesses and fresh evidence contradicted the original statements.

The prosecution agreed it would be unsafe for the trial to go ahead.