Death of Chris Currie

Christopher Wayne Currie (1985 – 19 August 2005) was a 20-year-old apprentice in the building trades who was killed by a stone deliberately thrown at his car as he drove along a motorway near Auckland, New Zealand.[1] His girlfriend and her two cousins who were in the car with him at the time of his death were injured but survived the assault.[2][3]

Rock-throwing incident

While Currie was driving a car along the Southern Motorway in Otahuhu [4] he was struck by an 8 kg block of concrete dropped from the Princess Street overbridge. Currie's girlfriend, Helen McCreadie, in the passenger seat, attempted to regain control of the car, but it crashed after 200 meters.[5]

Ngatai Rewiti,[6][7] who was 14 years old at the time of the incident, was found not guilty of Currie's murder, but guilty of manslaughter on 6 July 2006.[8] Rewiti has been remanded in custody and was sentenced on 6 September. His youth has attracted ongoing press attention.[7][9]

The stone block smashed through the windscreen of his car, struck his chin and then his chest. This fractured his sternum, which severed his heart's main artery and instantly killed him. The car then travelled another 120 metres down the motorway before striking a pole, causing minor injuries to the other three occupants of the car. Shortly afterwards the youth was arrested and charged with murder and endangering transport and appeared in the Manakau Youth Court on 23 August.

There were a spate of "copycat" rock-throwing attacks in the immediate aftermath of the attack on Currie.[10] Rocks thrown from highway overpasses is a recurring problem in New Zealand,[5][11][12][13] as are rural roadside attacks on vehicles by organized groups of rock-throwers,[14] and similar attacks on trains.[12]

The murder trial began on 3 July 2006 in the Auckland High Court.[15] Rewiti had name suppression and was identified only as "R" during the trial. The suppression was lifted after the verdict. Rewiti plead not guilty to the murder charge but admitted Currie's manslaughter. Crown Prosecutor Aaron Perkins told the jury that Rewiti did not need to have intended to kill Currie to commit murder. Under the Crimes Act 1961, death resulting from an unlawful act – in this case either an intention to cause him harm or to cause mayhem on the motorway – constitutes murder.[16]

Among the prosecution witnesses were Currie's girlfriend who testified that all of a sudden the windscreen shattered and Currie looked like he had been knocked out.[17] Friends of the accused said that on the Monday following the incident, he told them what he had done. One of the friends said that Rewiti sounded proud of his actions.[18] The jury took four hours to reach its not guilty verdict on the murder charge.

The sentence, 4 years in a youth detention center, with possible parole, "outraged" Currie's family.[19][20]

Context

The youthful rock thrower, Ngatai Rewiti, is sometimes discussed in the context of New Zealand's difficulty dealing with broken families, youthful gang violence and street crime.[21][22]

Notes
  1. Boyes, Nicola (7 July 2006). "'You're famous,' mates told teenage murder accused". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  2. Johnston, Martin (22 August 2005). "Detectives hunt Chris Currie's killer". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  3. Macbrayne, Rosalene (23 August 2005). "Bridge victim's girlfriend still in shock". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  4. Binning, Elizabeth (17 August 2007). "High-profile detective calls it quits". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  5. Leask, Anna (14 November 2014). "Rocks hurled from Auckland overbridge hit cars". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  6. "Court lifts teen's name suppression". Newstalk ZB. 6 July 2006. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 2006-07-06.
  7. "New Zealand's youngest killers". 3News. 20 December 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  8. "Youth found not guilty of murder". 6 July 2006. Retrieved 6 July 2006.
  9. Koubaridis, Andrew. "Boy admits killing 11-year-old mate". New Zealand Herald. NZPA. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  10. "Rock-throwing 'brainless copycats' anger police". New Zealand Herald. 26 August 2005. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  11. Loren, Anna (17 January 2014). "Stone's throw terror". Manukau Courrier. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  12. "All Too Common". Television New Zealand. 25 August 2005. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  13. "Rocks thrown from overbridge hit cars". Otago Daily Times. 14 November 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  14. "Truckie attacked by rock throwers". Wairarapa Times-Age. 18 April 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  15. "Rock throwing murder trial underway". TVNZ. RNZ. 3 July 2006. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  16. Diaz, Deborah (4 July 2006). "I didn't intend to kill – teen in concrete block case". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 5 July 2006.
  17. "Partner of Driver Killed By Concrete Slab Gives Evidence". newswire.co.nz. 4 July 2006. Retrieved 5 July 2006.
  18. "Friends Tell Trial Teen Told Them of Fatal Concrete Throw". newswire.co.nz. 4 July 2006. Retrieved 5 July 2006.
  19. "Rock thrower's sentence angers family". TVNZ. 6 September 2006. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  20. Eames, David (7 September 2006). "Concrete-slab killer may be out by Christmas". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  21. McCoskrie, Bob (3 October 2006). "Bob McCoskrie: Family solidarity key to lower youth crime". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  22. Butt, Emma (7 September 2006). "Currie's killer gets four years". Rotorua Daily Post. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
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