A St John Ambulance officer has recalled how the victim of a home invasion told them they were "too PC" for treating a teen who had part of his little finger cut off.
Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
The teen and his girlfriend had broken into William Burr's Piopio home with the aim of stealing his car during the early hours of 1 October, 2020.
Burr had managed to take control of the situation by finding his pump-action shotgun and holding them at gunpoint on the kitchen floor as emergency services arrived.
St John Ambulance officer Jan-Maree Pool told the jury in the High Court at Hamilton today how Burr was getting frustrated that they were not treating him.
At one point Burr told them that they were "too PC" and "were dealing with black people".
She said he was "just running around pacing backward and forwards around the home".
She'd also heard him on the phone saying how "he had beaten the shit out of the patient and cut his finger off".
"He was obviously quite upset ... sometimes you could understand what he was saying, sometimes it was a bit of a rant as he went off into the other room."
Paramedic Jane Murray testified yesterday how Burr was frustrated that they were treating the teen's injuries and not supplying him with Nurofen.
She said Burr responded by saying he "wanted some f****** Nurofen and that he was the f****** homeowner".
Questioned about the knife by defence counsel Philip Morgan QC, Pool said she first saw it when her colleague was kneeling on it as she treated the injured teen.
"I said 'shit, that's a knife under your knee' .. and she indicated to the police officer that it was there and that she wanted it gone."
The knife was about 30cm long with a smooth blade.
She also recalled seeing a car moving slowly past the house as she went to the ambulance to get supplies about 4am.
"To be honest, it scared the shit out of me so I just wanted to get back inside."
Te Awamutu police constable Zoe McNally recalled standing in the kitchen area as Burr sat on a chair in the lounge.
She heard him say "you won't be f****** doing that ever again".
"He then got off the chair he was sitting on, he walked towards [teen] lying on the floor and put his left hand on the counter, stepped over him with his left foot and then stomped on [teen's] lower back with his right foot."
She estimated the level of force used by Burr was about 80 percent of his full strength.
McNally said she responded, "you can't do that".
She said Burr looked directly at her and smirked before saying "you can't talk to me like that in my house".
"He said 'don't you f****** yell at me in my house. You couldn't do this."
As her colleague Constable Matthew Kay then escorted Burr from the kitchen into the lounge she heard him say, "she can't speak to me like that in my f****** house".
She said the teen was "non-responsive" to being stomped.
Ambulance officers arrived and she heard Burr say "why are they looking at him. I'm the victim. They should be looking at me."
Burr and his son, Shaun Burr, deny charges of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, wounding with intent to injure, maiming with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and maiming with intent to injure after allegedly attacking the burglar.
Burr senior, 66, faces two extra charges of assault and assaulting a woman.
The trial continues and is expected to head into next week.
* This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald.