Dunedin teen to be sentenced for bus stop stabbing of Enere McLaren-Taana

RNZ News

11-07-2025

The scene of the attack
Photo:
RNZ / Tess Brunton
The 14-year-old killer of Dunedin secondary student Enere McLaren-Taana will be sentenced today.
The then-13-year-old, who has interim name suppression, stabbed Taana-McLaren once with a large kitchen knife following a confrontation between the pair at Dunedin's bus hub in May last year.
The teenager was acquitted in March of murdering the 16-year-old Trinity Catholic College student, but the jury found the boy
guilty of manslaughter
.
Sentencing judge Justice Robert Osborne also oversaw the two-week jury trial in the Dunedin High Court earlier this year.
During the trial, the
boy's lawyer said he was defending himself
against a bigger, older boy, who he believed wanted to bash him. However, the prosecution argued he pursued and stabbed the older boy to
defend his "gangster persona"
.
The jury was shown graphic CCTV footage of the fatal encounter.
It took only 60 seconds from the killer getting off the bus to the teenagers being separated with Taana-McLaren clutching a stab wound.
Enere Taana-McLaren was 16-years-old when he was stabbed by another teen at Dunedin's bus hub in May last year.
Photo:
Facebook screenshot
The court heard the victim verbally accosted the younger boy who was walking past him.
The boy responded by giving Taana-McLaren the middle finger and then walking back towards the victim after trading insults.
They squared off and the younger boy pulled the kitchen knife out of his bag.
The defence said he carried the knife and was already hypersensitive to threats after an earlier assault, while the prosecution claimed it was not self defence because he chose to take out the knife and chase the victim, so as not to look like a coward.
The footage showed Taana-McLaren retreating onto the road before aiming a kick at the younger boy's head.
They grappled and the younger boy swung the knife towards Taana-McLaren twice.
The second swing landed, stabbing Taana-McLaren at least 10 centimetres through his stomach to the muscles near his spine.
He
died in hospital
later that day.
It took the jury more than two days of deliberations to reach its verdicts.
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