Killing without consequences? No charges after man stabbed to death on CCTV

On the night their son was killed, Ange and Noel McAllister were told he had died a hero.
During a chaotic, violent confrontation at a Waikato emergency housing property, their son, Perenara, 30, was stabbed in the chest and died within minutes.
“The police officer who rang here said Perenara was dead, and that he’d done something very heroic, that he did the right thing, and that I should be very proud,” says Noel.
It’s something they’ve been able to hang on to as they dealt with their grief – and the enormous sense of injustice that hangs over them to this day, two-and-a-half years later.
Within an hour of Perenara’s death, the man who had thrust a knife at him was in custody, having even admitted what he had done to witnesses, and on CCTV footage.
But about a week after Perenara’s tangi, police decided no charges would be laid and the case was closed. The whānau have kept asking questions, kept demanding to know if there would ever be any accountability for what happened.
Until recently, they feared they would never get their day in court.
But after a Mata Reports investigation, there has been a breakthrough. The Hamilton Coroner has decided an inquest will be held to determine what happened.
For the McAllister whānau, for their iwi (Tapuika), and the private investigator who has been helping them with the case, Terry Reardon, there is hope they will get some answers.
“I think the decision the police made was wrong,” says Reardon, a former detective. “This sort of thing should go in front of a jury and let the court decide.”
Police declined multiple requests from Mata for an interview, but sent a statement saying the case had been investigated fully and that the decision was made after seeking legal advice. 
“We extend our sympathies to the whānau of the deceased,” the statement says.
The whānau says a detective told them the decision was based on self-defence, although police would not confirm this to Mata.
But after watching CCTV footage of the incident, the whānau say they disagree.
“We watched it and that confirmed to me that they had made a mistake,” says Noel. Ange says she believes, “there’s no way it was self-defence”.
Perenara McAllister grew up in Te Puke, the mātāmua (eldest child), of Noel and Ange. He enjoyed helping out at their marae, Makahae.
Often, he would be helping out with the lawns at the pā or getting stuck in at working bees. When he finished school, he chased his dream of becoming a farmer and moved to the King Country.
Life was going well – until he had a car crash which left him with a head injury and seizures.
From that moment on, his parents say, he could no longer work, and his personality and behaviour changed – more risk-taking and more anger.
He ended up in prison, after a violent assault on his then-partner.
His parents condemned what he did, but stood by their son, trying to get him to be allowed to come home to Te Puke.
Instead, conditions of his release meant he had to stay away, and he ended up in emergency housing in Hamilton.
On March 5, 2022, after a day of tension and shouting between some of the residents, a woman took hold of a large knife and went to confront the man she accused of yelling at her children.
Perenara saw what was happening and rushed to stop her entering the man’s cabin. He held her in a bear hug and tried to calm her down, before she wrestled free and went into where the man was staying.
Witnesses say, and footage shows, that once inside the cabin, she was disarmed and went to the ground. The man picked up the knife.
Meanwhile, another resident had run to get a spade and Perenara, who had stayed near the action, went inside with it.
A witness who Mata tracked down said: “I think he was just trying to save her, trying to help her … I think it was too late because by the time Perenara ran in, [the man] had gotten hold of the blimmen knife by then.”
After watching the footage, Ange says: “I was so proud of our son because the whole time he was calm and where other people stood on, stood back and did nothing, he did something … Then we watched our son die.” 
A senior defence lawyer spoken to by Mata, Quentin Duff, says he could understand the police’s decision, although he could also understand whānau’s frustration, especially because it seemed the decision had not been properly explained to them.
“That really sounds like it’s part of their agony,” says Duff. “The police can be criticised perhaps for not doing more, but certainly not as far as failing to prosecute.”
Reardon, who has been speaking to witnesses and reviewing the case, disagrees, saying he believes it should have gone to court.
“The justice system hasn’t really had the opportunity to kick-in on this one yet because the police have put a bit of a roadblock up,” says Reardon.
“The people involved in this are people society has forgotten … I hope that hasn’t played into the decision that the police have made.”
After months of repeated attempts to find out from the Coroner what was happening with the case, Mata finally heard back recently.
“I can confirm the Coroner has decided an inquest is appropriate for the McAllister case,” says a spokesperson. “The date is to be confirmed. I have no further update I can provide at this stage.”
Mata made repeated attempts to contact the man who stabbed Perenara, but was unable to speak with him.