Her client claimed he\u2019d only wanted to scare Shrimpton into paying a drug debt.<\/p>\n
But Pollett said Shrimpton had missed \u201cdeadline, after deadline, after deadline\u201d and warnings had been given, with Tukaokao messaging that it was not a \u201cf***ing game\u201d and Shrimpton could \u201cget shot\u201d over the non-payment and failure to \u201cclock in\u201d.<\/p>\n
By early November 2023, it was clear to Tukaokao that the \u201crepayment was never coming, the end of the road had been reached\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n
This afternoon, the jury found Tukaokao guilty on all charges, including murder.<\/p>\n
They found co-defendant Tuara Heke guilty of helping him move the body to the burial site and of an aggravated robbery.<\/p>\n
Harley Shrimpton was killed on a rural property in the Western Bay of Plenty in 2023. Photo: NZ Police<\/p>\n
House call no \u2018cup-of-tea moment\u2019<\/p>\n
Early on the morning of November 3, 2023, a friend of Shrimpton\u2019s woke to a tapping on his P\u0101p\u0101moa flat door.<\/p>\n
He found two masked men standing there, asking for Shrimpton.<\/p>\n
The friend said there was \u201cimplied force\u201d and he let them in and handed over his phones, saying if he hadn\u2019t, he \u201cmay not be sitting here today\u201d.<\/p>\n
Webby said the men were only there to find Shrimpton \u2013 they hadn\u2019t forced their way in or assaulted the man, and any fear the man felt was because of a \u201cmisunderstanding\u201d; he thought one of the masked men was someone else who had previously assaulted Shrimpton.<\/p>\n
Tukaokao and the other man hadn\u2019t worn gang attire, which would have been more intimidating, and only took the phones as a means of contacting Shrimpton.<\/p>\n
Pollett said the friend was \u201cnothing short of terrified\u201d and it was \u201cno cup-of-tea moment\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Crown\u2019s case was that the second man in attendance was co-defendant Heke, which Heke denied.<\/p>\n
The Crown case was that a mask and white gloves recovered from Heke\u2019s address were used in the kidnapping, but defence lawyer Bill Nabney said they did not match the description given by Shrimpton\u2019s friend.<\/p>\n
The friend said one of the men had been wearing a Halloween-style mask with black fabric \u2013 a variation of the \u201cScream mask\u201d \u2013 and white gloves.<\/p>\n
Nabney said a silver mask found at Heke\u2019s address looked nothing like a Scream mask \u2013 there was no fabric attached and it didn\u2019t have an open mouth.<\/p>\n
He also said there was no phone location data placing Heke at the P\u0101p\u0101moa address.<\/p>\n
When it came to the mask, Pollett said the focus should not be on the differences, but on the similarities, which were \u201cremarkable\u201d given the trauma he went through.<\/p>\n
The mask and gloves the Crown alleges were worn by Tuara Heke in an aggravated robbery before the death of Harley Shrimpton, whom the Crown alleges was murdered over an unpaid drug debt.<\/p>\n
She said his reference to glitter on the mask could have been its gold markings, and the mask may have appeared white in that light.<\/p>\n
A McDonald\u2019s kidnapping<\/p>\n
The Crown said Tukaokao \u201clured\u201d Shrimpton to Tauranga\u2019s Sulphur Point, through messages from the friend\u2019s phone. <\/p>\n
When Shrimpton saw him, he and his friends took off in their car.<\/p>\n
Tukaokao caught up with them at the Mount Maunganui McDonald\u2019s, where they\u2019d parked up to use the Wi-Fi; Tukaokao pulled in and blocked in their car.<\/p>\n
One of Shrimpton\u2019s friends said Tukaokao came over to their car and fluctuated between being \u201creal violent\u201d and calm.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, Shrimpton got out of the car and into the blue Toyota Prius Tukaokao was driving.<\/p>\n
The Crown said it was clear to Shrimpton\u2019s friends he was scared and didn\u2019t want to go.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Tukaokao] would not have to block the vehicle in the McDonald\u2019s carpark had there been free consent,\u201d Pollett said.<\/p>\n
Webby pointed to the behaviour of the others in the car \u2013 they did not go to the police or raise the alarm, which did not support it being a kidnapping. <\/p>\n
She said Shrimpton could be seen still on the phone while getting into Tukaokao\u2019s car, which also suggested it hadn\u2019t been a kidnapping. <\/p>\n
A murder, or an attempt-to-scare gone wrong? <\/p>\n
Tukaokao, who had sourced a shotgun days earlier, took Shrimpton to the shed at the Poripori property where he had left the loaded weapon. <\/p>\n
Shrimpton was shot in the chest and the Crown said this was what Tukaokao intended to do.<\/p>\n
The gun used to shoot Harley Shrimpton was the focus at the start of the third week of the High Court trial over Shrimpton’s death.<\/p>\n
The defence said the shot happened during a struggle and the pair may have been having a \u201ctug of war\u201d when it was fired.<\/p>\n
The Crown argued it was \u201cimplausible\u201d that Shrimpton would have pulled the gun towards his chest \u2013 he would surely have batted it away.<\/p>\n
Pollett said Shrimpton\u2019s death was an example to others as to what happens when you don\u2019t pay your debts to the gang.<\/p>\n
The defence said Shrimpton was no good to Tukaokao dead, with his debt unpaid. <\/p>\n
Webby said there was \u201cno evidence\u201d that he would not have been able to pay. <\/p>\n
She said all he would have needed to do was to sell more drugs, which was how debts in the drug and gang underworld were often dealt with.<\/p>\n
Shrimpton had managed it before, and she said there was nothing to suggest he wouldn\u2019t have been able to do it again.<\/p>\n
A burial, a shed clean-up, and a gun thrown in a swamp <\/p>\n
The final aspect of the offending covered what happened after the fatal shot. <\/p>\n
The Crown said Heke went to Poripori Rd and helped move the body. They relied on his phone location data and the fact moving the body was not a \u201cone-person job\u201d.<\/p>\n
Nabney said Heke had already pleaded guilty to a charge relating to him cleaning the shed, but denied moving the body.<\/p>\n
Nabney said the phone location data, and the margin of error around the phone\u2019s \u201cpin drop\u201d that the Crown said placed Heke near the burial site, didn\u2019t prove he had moved the body. <\/p>\n
He also said location data suggested Terrance Hayes, who supplied the shotgun, had also been at the property that night.<\/p>\n