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Rydell Martin accepts he’s guilty of the manslaughter of Phillip Morgan in the tiny Waikato settlement of Pukemiro, a court has heard.
Was axe murder accused Rydell Martin an angry man delivering potentially fatal axe blows? Or was he merely trying to bring down a big man fighting his cousin in the street? These are the opposing cases of the prosecution and defence in his trial, to explain what happened in the Waikato settlement of Pukemiro the night Phillip Macpherson died. Rydell Tuaupiki Martin, 27, is charged with murdering Macpherson with an axe in a street fight on March 1, 2019.
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The man could play professional rugby overseas if he didn t have an intensive supervision order, his lawyer said.
A former All Black is appealing the sentence he received for a savage , unprovoked attack. The man is also trying to prevent his name being published in connection with the December 2019 assault, to avoid internet trolling, a court heard. The man - who cannot be named - was sentenced in the Hamilton District Court in January for an incident in which he punched a woman in the face while extremely intoxicated. At the time, Judge Robert Spear imposed two years of intensive supervision and regular check-ins with a judge.