A young man came home from work, cracked a “beer” and died last year. Today, a man’s trial has begun for alleged manslaughter over the death.
Aiden Sagala died aged 21 in March 2023 in Auckland City Hospital. He’d innocently drank from a can of “Honey Bear House Beer” — not knowing it was laced with liquid methamphetamine.
In the wake of Sagala’s death, police launched an investigation and two men were arrested. Last week, one of them pleaded guilty to a number of drug charges.
This morning in Courtroom Seven at the High Court in Auckland, the second man’s trial began. He is Himatjit Singh Kahlon.
Kahlon, 41, faces one charge of manslaughter, one charge of possessing meth for supply, and one charge of possessing cocaine for supply. He has pleaded not guilty.
In the dock today, wearing a brown houndstooth jacket, Kahlon sat and watched.
Justice Kiri Tahana will preside over the jury trial, set down for three weeks.
Robin McCoubrey and Pip McNabb are prosecuting the case for the Crown. Emma Priest is leading the defence team, with Harry Redwood and Pearl Wilks.
The Crown case: ‘Off the charts’ amount of meth in can
In her opening remarks this morning, McNabb said Aiden Sagala was living with his sister and his brother-in-law at the time of his death.
In February 2023, he brought home Honey Bear House Beers given to him by a workmate, McNabb said.
Some were consumed that month and there were no issues, she said — but on March 2, he left work, picked up fish and chips, and cracked open one of the beers at home.
He mentioned to his brother-in-law that the beer tasted “salty”, McNabb said. The brother-in-law tried it, thought it tasted “chemical” and tipped the rest out into the sink, she said.
It didn’t look like beer, she continued. Sagala went into his bedroom and later came out, looking unwell, before suffering a seizure.
In hospital, his health deteriorated and he died of organ failure on March 7.
The level of meth in his system was found to be “off the charts”, McNabb said.
Police looked at the beers in the home and found some were firm to the touch with carbonation while others weren’t.
The ones that weren’t carbonated contained liquid meth, McNabb said. From there, the police investigated.
‘Stacks and stacks’ of cans
“He got that can from Himatjit Kahlon,” McNabb said, adding that Kahlon was Sagala’s manager.
Police visited Kahlon at his home to find out where he’d got them from, she continued.
He told police he’d been given them by the man who pleaded guilty last week.
That led officers to a commercial address on Ryan Place in Manukau, which the other man rented.
Inside, “they saw stacks and stacks of Honey Beer cans”, kombucha bottles, coconut water, and another kind of beer, McNabb said.
“There were thousands and thousands of cans in that unit.”
White crystals were “everywhere” along with items the Crown alleges were used to evaporate, wash and dry methamphetamine.
In total, between the solid meth and liquid meth police found “over 700kg of methamphetamine in that storage unit”, McNabb said.
They also found just over 2kg of cocaine, she added.
Cocktail defence
Police found evidence linking Kahlon to the unit, McNabb said, including CCTV showing Kahlon coming and going, sometimes taking cans in and out.
Among other evidence, his fingerprints were found on multiple items in the unit, she said.
In a police interview on March 28, Kahlon said the other man had “told him he was making solutions”.
He admitted noticing a liquid that didn’t smell like beer, but said he trusted the other man and “just did what he was told”. He said he thought it “must have something to do with cocktail making”, McNabb added.
“Quite simply, the Crown case is that Mr Kahlon knew this had nothing to do with cocktails.
“He wasn’t blind to this,” McNabb said.
The legitimate cans of beer were “worthless” as they couldn’t be sold in New Zealand, McNabb said.
So, Kahlon gave them away to workmates — including Aiden Sagala, she said, alleging the defendant “did not take reasonable care or precaution”.
Defence says Kahlon ‘trusted people’
In response, Priest said the defendant was “known by everyone as Jimmy Kahlon”.
“What Jimmy Kahlon is guilty of is seeing the very best in people,” she said.
Priest said the defendant was a community man who held his friend — the other man — in high regard.
“The defence say that Mr Kahlon was the type of person to trust people and help people,” she continued.
“I suggest this was a terrible accident with the most tragic of circumstances and outcome.
“He had no idea, no knowledge that there were drugs in that can.”
Priest said Kahlon was one of the “very best” and was taken advantage of by “one of the very worst”. The relationship between the two men was key, she said, calling the two men “opposites”.
She urged the 12 jurors to keep an open mind and said the other man was able to “exploit his friend, Jimmy Kahlon, who was willing to do anything for a friend”.
“Jimmy Kahlon’s blind faith in people meant he had no idea what [the other man] had pulled him into.”
The trial continues, with witnesses due to give evidence today.
