Two men accused of murder have been found guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter of Upper Hutt transsexual Richard "Diksy" Jones on April 29 last year.



In their third day of deliberations a jury of seven women and five men delivered the decisions in the case against Phillip Christopher Sanders, 42, and David Shaun Galloway, 20.



Less than two hours after reports of bullying in a jury room, the verdicts were reached with a majority, but the jury was unable to agree on the murder charges against the men.



The Crown is now considering a retrial on the murder charge.



The jury first retired to consider the case just after 3pm on Wednesday. They worked until 6pm that night and reconvened at 9.30am Thursday, working through until 5.30pm.



They began deliberating again at 9am today and just before noon returned to court to hear Justice Robert Dobson's response to a note from the jury suggesting bullying or coercion was occurring.



He said that sort of behaviour was "absolutely inappropriate". He said any juror was free to tell a court staff member if they were uncomfortable due to pressure being put on them.



Any verdicts reached after suggestions of over-bearing or bullying conduct would be unsafe, he said. Jurors had to reach verdicts of their on free will.



EXPRESSING PREJUDICES



Galloway's lawyer, Donald Stevens, QC, said Galloway was just 18 when Diksy died on April 29 last year, which was also Sanders' 41st birthday. Police found them in Diksy's flat.



Galloway later told police he had gone to Diksy's flat to "beat up a transvestite" who did not deserve to be in the world. Mr Stevens said the jury would have seen in Galloway's recorded police interview how incredulous the intoxicated teenager was when he was told Diksy had died.



He had been mouthing off without realising the damage Sanders had done. Mr Stevens said Galloway was raving, expressing his prejudices.



Later, a more sober Galloway had given a second interview saying he had gone to buy a "tinnie" from Diksy who was a small-time cannabis dealer.



Galloway said Diksy was already injured and he aimed two kicks at his head but one was a "half-miss".



Mr Stevens challenged Sanders' evidence of seeing Galloway beating Diksy and throwing a television at Diksy's head. The evidence was remarkable for the inconsistencies and lies, Mr Stevens said.



Sanders had threatened Diksy after a string of complaints Diksy had made against him to police, the probation service and the drug recovery trust where Sanders was living.



The police complaint form recording the allegation that Sanders had stolen a wallet from Diksy was found on Sanders after the killing. Mr Stevens suggested that finding the form in Diksy's flat would have caused Sanders to lose control, prompting a murderous attack.



On Tuesday the jury heard Sanders' lawyer, Paul Paino, say Diksy's complaints against Sanders were not important because they had had no consequences for Sanders.



In evidence Sanders only admitted hitting Diksy once.



The Crown said both men had motives to kill Diksy. Prosecutor Tom Gilbert said the evidence pointed to Sanders' making an initial although probably minor assault on Diksy before Galloway joined him and the more serious violence began resulting in a skull fracture and 21 rib fractures, among other injuries. Diksy died within minutes.

GUILTY OF MANSLAUGHTER: David Shaun Galloway.