KEY POINTS:
A teenager will stand trial for the manslaughter of another teen who died in an LPG explosion in a car in Blenheim last year.
Tristian Ceciel Grant Beckett, 19, pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of Thomas Kelson Hillman, aged 18, of Picton, who was killed last October when the car five teenagers were in exploded.
A depositions hearing in Blenheim District Court this week was told the group were in a car inhaling LPG from a portable gas bottle when Beckett flicked a cigarette lighter.
Justices of the Peace Gregory Weake and Angela Brott ruled yesterday that Beckett must stand trial, the Marlborough Express reported today.
Beckett will next appear in the High Court at Blenheim on October 9.
The Crown called six witnesses in the depositions hearing, including the three teenagers who had been in the car with Beckett and Hillman before it exploded.
Christchurch pathologist Dr Martin Sage said Mr Hillman would have died very quickly from inhalation burns to his lungs.
- NZPA
