Man accused of partner abuse about to learn fate

"The Crown says it's implausible, inconsistent and simply unbelievable." Crown prosecutor Michael Blaschke, about Leon Hakaraia's version of events

A man accused of inflicting four years of domestic violence on his partner has admitted punching her.

Leon Hakaraia, 37, is on trial in the Palmerston North District Court on charges related to alleged assaults against his ex-partner between June 2012 and January 2016.

Hakaraia pleaded guilty on Wednesday to one charge of punching his ex-partner.

He is also accused of using scissors and a car stereo to inflict various injuries on her.

The jury is now deliberating its verdicts for the remaining five charges, for which Hakaraia pleaded not guilty.

He had also faced one charge of assault using knives against the woman, but Judge Lance Rowe discharged him on Tuesday afternoon.

When giving evidence on Wednesday, Hakaraia said he believed when he hit his expartner, she would have been that on scared.

He did not believe she was scared before that, he said.

‘‘Most of the time she was still trying to get her point across while we were arguing.’’

He described hitting her as ‘‘three seconds of unthoughtless motion’’ and said he never meant to injure her with the punch.

However, he denied punching her in the stomach, kicking her, strangling her and stabbing her in the leg with scissors.

Crown prosecutor Michael Blaschke told the jury Hakaraia had invented a version of events to explain the evidence he could not escape from.

‘‘It’s a version of events that are favourable to him.

‘‘The Crown says it’s implausible, inconsistent and simply unbelievable.’’

Blaschke asked the jury to think about the extent of the injuries the woman suffered, including her nose being described by a doctor as ‘‘in bits’’.

‘‘Is that consistent with two punches?’’

Defence lawyer Penelope Walker said the jury had heard about a lifestyle they might not approve of, but that did not mean Hakaraia was guilty.

She said he did not deny seeing the scissor blade coming towards him, but said he whacked his partner’s hand out of the way and that must have been how she was stabbed in the thigh.

The jury will continue deliberating on Thursday.