KEY POINTS:
The man accused of fatally stabbing a teenaged tagger told police he knew he was in serious trouble, the High Court in Auckland has heard.
South Auckland businessman Bruce Emery allegedly told police "I'm in a serious load of s*** now," just hours after the incident at his Manurewa property.
Mr Emery this morning pleaded not guilty to stabbing teenager Pihema Clifford Cameron in Manukau on January 26.
Crown Prosecutor Aaron Perkins described Mr Cameron and a friend as enjoying a day at the beach, drinking alcohol and using cannabis before going out and tagging properties in Manurewa.
But the pair were discovered by a property owner, who the Crown alleges is Emery.
They were chased over 300 metres before the confrontation took place.
Mr Perkins said a witness, who has name suppression, became scared when he noticed the accused had a knife.
He said the witness will give evidence that Cameron put his fists up and at one point said "let's rush him".
"The deceased is backing up and trips over the curb. He gets up and continues backing up," Mr Perkins said.
He said at one point both the teenagers tried to use their spray cans to make the accused go away but the accused, armed with a knife, "punches out" and Cameron was stabbed through the lung. The stab wound also damaged his heart and he bled to death a short time later.
Mr Perkins said the witness will recall the accused then turned around and ran away.
He said the witness yelled out: "Come back, you dick, you stabbed him" and he threw his spray can at him.
About two hours later a policeman visited Mr Emery's home to ask if there had been tagging in the area.
Mr Emery is alleged to have told the officer that he chased the boys and was armed with a knife.
Mr Perkins said when Emery was asked what he was doing with a knife, Emery said: "I put it in his shoulder". When asked why he had armed himself, Emery said he was 50-years-old and had a wife and three kids at home.
Earlier Mr Perkins described how Mr Cameron died.
"The track that knife took into the body of Mr Cameron was an entry point in his chest, slightly to the left of his right nipple, damaging his right lung, causing his lung to collapse.
"It carried on to enter one of two major pumping chambers of his heart," Mr Perkins said.
He said Mr Cameron lost a lot of blood and likely died in a matter of minutes.
Mr Perkins said Emery was accused of taking the law into his own hands.
He described the killing as unnecessary and avoidable.
Mr Perkins said the Crown would call 15 witnesses during the trial, which has been set down for five days.
Defence lawyer Chris Comeskey also gave a short opening address.
He said the defence case will be based on notions of self-defence and accident.
"It's about not having any intention to kill or be reckless," Mr Comeskey said.
He asked jury of seven women and five men to keep an open mind.
Justice Hugh Williams earlier warned prospective jurors to only consider evidence given in the courtroom.
He said if they had strong views about tagging or graffiti art, then they should make that known to the court registrar but that it was not an invitation to get out of jury service.
Emery, dressed in a dark suit, was flanked by two security guards at today's appearance.
