Gang prospect gives evidence

A former Black Power prospect declared allegiance to his family when giving evidence against his gang boss, who is on trial for rape.

The man, who cannot be named in order to protect the complainant’s identity, was the second witness to give evidence at Dennis Craig Weston’s trial in the New Plymouth District Court.

Weston, president of the central Taranaki chapter of the gang, is accused of luring the prospect’s partner of 11 years to an Eltham address on May 23, 2016, under the false pretence of offering her a place to stay, before he sexually assaulted her.

The 57-year-old previously pleaded not guilty to abduction for sex, indecent assault and rape.

From the witness box yesterday, the complainant’s partner gave a rare insight into life as a gang prospect.

‘‘It’s like the bum boy of the gang. You get orders about what to do and you do them,’’ he said.

The man answered directly to Weston, who headed up the small, Stratford-based gang.

He told the court he met up with the complainant on May 26, 2016 – three days after the alleged attack – and noticed an immediate difference in her demeanour. He described her as being ‘‘scared’’ and said she had trouble looking him in the eye.

The witness said he asked her several times what was wrong before she broke down crying and told him Weston had taken her to Eltham and raped her.

He told the court his partner was unsure how he would handle the revelation.

‘‘She didn’t know where my loyalty lay, since I was prospecting for the Blacks,’’ he said.

However, when asked by prosecutor Justin Marinovich about his allegiances, the witness replied they were with his partner and children.

The man said he had told the complainant to go to the police and later gave up being a prospect, rebuffing Weston’s attempts to meet with him at the gang’s pad on Ariel St in Stratford.

The complainant, who said she felt ‘‘petrified’’ and ‘‘disgusted’’ during the alleged attack, was subjected to cross examination at an earlier stage of yesterday’s court sitting.

Weston’s lawyer, Kelly Marriner, challenged much of the woman’s version of events.

She pointed to evidence to be given in Weston’s defence by another gang-affiliated man who will say the complainant asked him to look after her children so she could attend an emergency appointment at Work and Income.

Marriner said Weston had offered to give her a ride but the pair never left Stratford.

In response, the complainant denied that was the case.

Questioning by Marriner then moved onto the information the woman provided to police in the days after the attack.

From the witness box, the complainant said she had passed out temporarily after being choked by Weston just prior to the alleged sex attack.

Marriner highlighted how this detail, and others, was missing from the 70-minute police interview, and put it to the complainant that she was making her story up, which the woman again denied.

Under re-examination by the Crown, the complainant said there were elements that she had not originally told police because it had not been an ‘‘easy process’’ for her to go through.

‘‘It was like how I’m feeling right now. I was scared, I couldn’t find all the right words and I felt like I was being judged,’’ she said.

The trial continues today.