Two more teenagers say they saw 14-year-old Hastings murder accused with knife

Two more teenagers who witnessed the fatal attack of Flaxmere man Kelly Donner have told the court they saw 14-year-old Haami Hanara with a knife.

Hanara is on trial in the High Court in Napier, accused of stabbing 40-year-old Hawke's Bay man Kelly Donner in Hastings in March.

These witnesses were not part of the five youths who attacked Kelly Donner but were in the area at the time.

The first witness, a 13-year-old girl, told the court she saw the fight unfolding and when she approached she saw Mr Hanara with a knife near Kelly Donner.

When asked by Crown Prosecutor Steve Manning what she saw Mr Hanara do with the knife, she told the court she couldn’t remember.

She saw Mr Donner bleeding from his throat but didn’t remember if the accused "slit his throat".

The witness was then read a police statement she gave after the incident which said "one of the boys had jumped on him and started punching him in the face and grabbed a knife out of no where and slit his throat".

Despite this, the witness said she couldn’t remember if she saw Mr Donner get stabbed.

Under cross examination from defence lawyer Eric Forster the witness was asked if she thought "slit his throat" meant to cut across the neck, which she agreed with.

Forster also asked if she was "stoned" and "buzzing out" that night, which she admitted but still told the court she couldn’t remember whether she saw Mr Donner get stabbed or not.

A police interview with another teenage girl who witnessed the attack was also played to the jury.

In the interview, this girl said she saw a boy in a black vest with a knife and saw him "stab" and "slit the man’s throat".

She confirmed in evidence given via audio visual link after the police interview was played that she did know the boy in the black vest as Haami Hanara

Under cross examination the defence asked the teenager if she actually saw Mr Hanara slit Mr Donner's throat, which she said she didn’t.

She admitted she only said that because she saw Mr Hanara with the knife afterwards.

When asked to clarify by the Crown when re-examined whether she saw "stabbing" of Mr Donner, the teenager replied, "Nah, I didn't see nothing".

The trial will continue tomorrow.