Woman found not guilty of assault, theft

A DUNEDIN woman accused of deliberately driving into her boyfriend after catching him with another woman has been acquitted.

The 62yearold faced charges of assault with a weapon and theft, but a Dunedin District Court jury cleared her of the charges after deliberating for a mere 25 minutes yesterday.

Judge Michael Crosbie said the snappy, unanimous verdicts showed justice had ‘‘run its course’’.

He suppressed the identity of all those involved, saying there was no need for further publicity for the parties.

Crown prosecutor Craig Power told the jury in his opening address that the defendant had been in a relationship with a Waihola man for a year when he abruptly called it off in on the morning of June 14.

He told the defendant not to come to his home as planned, that it was over and that he did not want to give her ‘‘false hope’’.

Defence counsel Anne Stevens QC said that was a huge and sudden departure.

‘‘The evening before he had sent a text telling her of his love and how he would see her the next day,’’ she said.

The defendant drove south regardless.

Once there, the court heard, it became clear there was another woman at the address.

Mr Power said the woman entered her boyfriend’s bedroom and, after speaking to him, wandered through the house looking for the third party who had allegedly shut herself in a room.

What happened next resulted in charges being laid and was the subject of much scrutiny at trial.

As the defendant was leaving, the man confronted her, believing she had stolen something from inside the house, the jury was told.

The Crown case was that the complainant stood in front of the vehicle and the woman drove at him, leaving him clinging to the bonnet as she travelled down a gravel driveway.

The man said he smashed the windscreen to force her to stop.

Mrs Stevens rubbished that version of events.

She said the man did not want her client to leave, had jumped on the bonnet of the stationary vehicle and smashed the window ‘‘in a rage’’.

‘‘When it became apparent she was not going to stop, he rolled off the car and bruised himself from that impact with the ground — deservedly, the defence says,’’ Mrs Stevens told the court.

The defendant was accused of stealing the woman’s wallet, which had never been found following the incident.

‘‘[The defendant] had no interest in [the woman’s] wallet, didn’t know what it looked like, didn’t touch it,’’ Mrs Stevens said.

Once acquitted of the charges, the defendant thanked the jury and embraced supporters in the public gallery.