Four acquitted of manslaughter of man held down outside bar

Tuesday, 21 November 2023

Four people have been found not guilty of the manslaughter of Kaimana Paul who was held down on the footpath after being removed from a bar, accused of being unruly and threatening.

In the fourth week of the trial on Tuesday a jury at the High Court in Wellington returned majority verdicts of not guilty for bar owner Paul Barker Lloyd-Jones, 77, and Caleb John Kauika-Stevens, 31, whose partner worked at the bar.

A woman, 25, was also acquitted in a majority decision, and a bar patron, 63, was unanimously found not guilty. Justice Christine Grice will hear their applications for permanent name suppression later.

Speaking after the verdicts Lloyd-Jones said they were glad it was all over and very sorry it happened in the first place.

Police were called twice to the Glasshouse Bar about Paul, 39, who was ranting and raving.

He had been drinking there on September 4, 2019, but was removed and served with a trespass order. A mental health alert was noted about him in police records and he was taken home.

But he returned to the bar. Police were called again but before they arrived he was pushed outside and four people held him down on the footpath for almost 12 minutes.

The jury was told the defendants thought his behaviour was threatening, and he was struggling and threatening them when he was on the ground.

The Crown said Paul was only an annoyance, he hadn’t touched anyone and it should have been left to the police to sort out. It alleged Paul died from compression asphyxia because the people on top of him meant he could not breathe or move.

The defence said several factors were involved in the cause of death, including alcohol intoxication, obesity, and untreated schizophrenia.

Lloyd-Jones, Kauika-Stevens, and the woman were arrested two years after Paul died. The fourth man was arrested a year later.

Security cameras at the bar captured what happened as the four people lay, knelt, held or leaned on him. They said they were defending themselves and others.

In her summing up to the jury on Monday the judge said when the defendants raised self defence as an issue it was for the Crown to disprove it.

The jury had to consider if the force used was reasonable in the circumstances as the defendants believed them to be.

The judge said the people on top of Paul did not have to be the only or main cause of his death, but it did need to be a substantial and operative cause of death, if the defendants were to be found guilty.

Members of Paul’s family attended the trial each day, as did family and supporters of the defendants.