Man dies while trying to end brawl

Police have confirmed that a father-of-six described by friends as a “gentle giant”, died of natural causes as he tried to stop a brawl outside his home early yesterday morning.

An investigation into the death was launched by the police after Richard Tairua died on the driveway of the Primrose Place house in Manuwera. A post mortem examination discovered that Tairua died of natural causes. 

Nevertheless, the police are still conducting an investigation regarding the disorder incident at the address to which they were summoned.

Rae Bates, Mr. Tairua’s neighbor and close friend, said Tairua’s stepson and some of his friends had arrived home late. They were noisy so Tairua’s wife told them to go outside.

Bates recounted that he was woken at around 2.30 am when he heard his own son shouting through the window to people outside the Tairua home in order to keep the noise down. Apparently, another group of young men arrived and confronted the group outside.

“I think some other guys were going past and sort of demanded money or a phone. I’m not exactly sure, and there was a bit of a fracas,” Bates said.

“They said something like ‘give us your money’, words to that effect. Something happened and they were fighting, pushing and shoving. The stepfather [Tairua] heard all the commotion and he came out, and I think he died of a heart attack. He’s lying on the driveway.