Gang boss faces rape claim

A Taranaki Black Power boss is on trial for the alleged abduction and rape of the partner of one of his former prospects.

Dennis Craig Weston, president of the central Taranaki chapter of the gang, stands accused of luring a woman to an Eltham address under the false pretence of offering her a place to stay, before he raped the woman and labelled her ‘‘Black Power property’’.

Weston has pleaded not guilty to rape, abduction for sex and indecent assault and his trial began in the New Plymouth District Court yesterday.

In his opening address, Crown prosecutor Jacob Bourke said the case was all about ‘‘power and control’’.

Bourke said on May 23, 2016, Weston offered the complainant a place to stay after she was involved in a domestic incident with her partner two days prior. Her partner was one of Weston’s gang prospects and the couple, along with their children, were staying at an Ariel St address in Stratford, which was described as a gang pad.

During their conversation, the complainant told Weston, that she wanted to move out of the pad and he, in reply, offered her a place to stay in Eltham. Bourke said the pair then drove to the Eltham property.

The complainant used the bathroom and when she came out she was confronted by Weston, who is alleged to have grabbed her, pushed her onto the bed and sexually assaulted her. The 57-year-old told her she was ‘‘Black Power property’’ and he also threatened to hurt her partner if she resisted him, Bourke said.

The complainant had ‘‘felt scared and weak’’ during the alleged attack.

‘‘She told the defendant ‘no’ and told him to stop,’’ Bourke said.

Weston, represented by Kelly Marriner, completely denied the encounter took place when he was subsequently interviewed by police.

Marriner said the defence case would be straightforward. ‘‘It simply did not happen.’’

She urged the jury not to be distracted by the gang element involved in the case and said they needed to assess all the evidence on its own merits. During the complainant’s evidence, which was given in a closed court and behind a screen, she said she had been ‘‘stunned’’ to be confronted by Weston, a man whom she had previously trusted.

After he grabbed her around the throat, the complainant said Weston made his sexual intentions clear.