Manslaughter verdict in Cottrell trial

The jury in the case of two men accused of murdering a Wellington journalist has started to consider its verdict after final instructions from the judge.

In the High Court at Wellington on Monday, following a two-week trial, Justice Forrest Miller said jurors should approach their deliberations analytically rather than allowing their feelings to dictate.

Nicho Waipuka, 20, and Manuel Robinson, 18, deny murdering Phillip Cottrell, 43, by attacking him in Boulcott Street on December 10 last year.

Mr Cottrell, who suffered from a brittle bone disease, died from his head injuries in hospital the next day.

Waipuka admits he punched the victim once, and has already offered to plead guilty to a reduced manslaughter charge.

"This is a sad case. We feel great sympathy for Mr Cottrell and his family. He died violently, having done nothing whatsoever to put himself in harm's way," Justice Miller said.

It would be natural to think poorly of the accused, but he told the jury not to let that interfere with their decision.

The Crown says the pair did not deliberately try to kill Mr Cottrell, but still met the threshold of murder because they knew he could die and they did not care if he did.

It also maintains at the least Robinson was a party to murder by assisting or encouraging the attack, despite him saying he was on the other side of the street.

Justice Miller also directed the jury on how to deal with some of the evidence - from police, medical experts and witnesses who spoke with the accused afterwards - and what weight to place on its reliability.

A number of the accused men's friends and relatives changed their stories in the witness stand from the statements they gave police.

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