Brother of murder accused blames himself for Burnley girl's death

2:49pm Tuesday 29th April 2008

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THE brother of a man accused of murdering a Burnley schoolgirl in New Zealand told a court he was to blame for the incident.

Benjamin Sila, whose brother, Lipine, is on trial for the murder of Burnley-born Jane Young, told the Christchurch court that he had been fighting at the out-of-control house party on Edgeware Road.

Jane, who emigrated from the Ightenhill area of Burnley, and her friend Hannah Rossiter, both 16, died after they were hit by a car being driven by Lipine Sila following fighting at the party, which was attended by hundreds of people.

Benjamin Sila, a 20-year-old small goods butcher, said: "I knew it was my fault, I knew I was in the wrong."

He told how he was "a bit drunk" when he arrived at the Edgeware Road party. Lipine Sila had driven him and his mates to the party, but didn't want to join in, so he sat in the car. He warned Benjamin Sila to stay out of the way of trouble and not to cause any.

Benjamin Sila went to the corner of Manchester Street and Edgeware Road and saw people he had had trouble with in the past. He asked them what their problem was and asked if anyone wanted to fight him.

While fighting, his mate "Junior" got hit with a bottle and his hand was cut. He wrapped a T-shirt around it and Benjamin Sila said he was "a bit angry and lost the plot a bit".

He picked a bottle up off the footpath and threw it through the back window of a Subaru, breaking it.

Someone who knew the owner of the car, Joseph Muir, and his mates approached Benjamin Sila and another fight started. "I know my brother just came from nowhere to help me out," he said.

He saw Lipine Sila get hit on the head with a bottle. "I kinda got scared and took off," he added.

He ran to Bishop Street and hid on a property there for awhile. When he got back, Junior was sitting in a car with Connor Bensley, who drove them to the hospital.

When he got home from the hospital Lipine Sila was at the house.

"I didn't want to talk too much about it because I knew he was angry when I took off from the fight," Benjamin said.

Junior and Benjamin Sila went to have a look at the car in the back yard "to see if what I heard at the hospital was true," Ben Sila said. The car was covered in cardboard.

Sila denies two counts of murder and eight of causing grevious bodily harm to other party-goers.