Ezekiel Narndu found guilty of Wadeye manslaughter in Darwin Supreme Court

A jury heard a Wadeye man was fatally struck by a metal pole after being trapped in a ‘lawless environment’ where police were helpless to stop the violence. WARNING: Graphic videos

A young Wadeye teen threw a steel pole into the skull of a peacemaker trapped as a community broke out in “lawless”, “tribal warfare”.

Ezekiel Narndu was found guilty of manslaughter by causing the death of a 32-year-old man, known for cultural reasons as Mr Tcherna, in Wadeye on April 16, 2022.

Over the eight day trial the court heard the then-teenager was in a crowd of 150 people who were watching an attempt to mediate ongoing unrest in the West Daly region.

The jury heard the Narndu family were leading the peace talks, but were disrupted when a young man charged at two police officers with an axe.

“He brought the weapon, he brought the axe, he brought the aggro,” Crown prosecutor Steve Ledek said.

Body cam footage initially showed the offices pursuing the young man, before being forced to retreat.

Defence barrister Beth Wild said the Narndu family were left exposed after the officers made their tactical withdrawal, realising it was not safe to deploy their tasers, pepper spray or their guns.

Wadeye man Ezekiel Narndu was found guilty of reckless or negligent manslaughter for throwing a metal pole into a crowd on April 16, 2022.

“Rather than have another Kumanjayi Walker or Zach Rolfe on our (hands) — and they cannot be criticised for that — but where does it leave our peace convoy on the ground?” she asked.

“With the disengagement of the police, the options were few.”

Ms Wild said her client, a physical education teacher with the nickname of ‘Superman’, went into “protector mode”, telling his younger cousin to get away before rushing forward.

Mr Ledek said Narndu “led the charge” against the lone axe-wielding agitator and the retreating crowd.

“There was raw aggression being displayed,” Mr Ledek said.

“He switched from being the calm, arms folded member of the group, to where action was required.”

Mr Ledek said two shaky mobile phone videos provided to the jury showed Narndu make the fateful throw, lobbing a steel bar into the air which hit the 32-year-old in the face.

“It’s confronting, it’s harrowing, it’s difficult. But it’s the reality of what happened that afternoon,” Mr Ledek said.

“He started dying in the grass and dirt.

“(The steel bar) was thrown by Ezekiel Narndu, that went through his face into his brain and into the back of his skull.”

Mr Ledek said the rebar pole, still marked by blood and other matter, was later found in the nearby grass after being wrenched from the 32-year-old’s face.

It would be another three days before Mr Tcherna passed away at Royal Darwin Hospital.

Mr Ledek said ultimately Mr Tcherna was a “peacemaker” and he was hit for no other reason than his family were fighting with the Narndus.

“There was a fight that he wanted no part of. There was a fight that Ezekiel Narndu wanted,” he said.

“He was the enemy that day.

“In what can only be described as tribal warfare.”

Mr Ledek said two shaky mobile phone videos provided to the jury showed Narndu make the fateful throw, lobbing a steel bar into the air which hit the 32-year-old in the face.

Mr Ledek said the world of a courtroom — with its “silly looking wigs, court gowns and structured rules and behaviour” — was very different to the dirt road in Wadeye where the fighting broke out.

“A lawless environment where police are unable to keep grown men from throwing deadly weapons at each other,” he said.

The jury heard that there were 50 serious injuries requiring CareFlight evacuations from the Wadeye conflict in the lead up to the fatal brawl.

They heard it was a community splintered by gangs, like the German Boys, Evil Warrior Mob, against the Man of Wars, with Judas Priest, Kill Switch Engaged, Big T, Metallica, Bad Boys and White Lions also on the prowl.

Mr Ledek said the fatal attack led to further fighting, unrest and repercussions for the community.

But Ms Wild also argued that the teenager would not have thought he was risking killing someone by throwing the rebar pole into the crowd.

She said the metal bars had been thrown “all through the night, and day” in the unrest, and had not resulted in a single serious injury.

“What are the chances of throwing an object at 30m, a blunt object … to strike a man full in the face at such an angle that it is able to penetrate one of the most vulnerable places in the skull?” she asked.

“It was incredibly unlucky, causing the death of a man from Wadeye,” Ms Wild said.

After four-hours of deliberation on Thursday, the jury returned a guilty verdict of reckless or negligent manslaughter.

Narndu will return to court on May 22 for sentencing.