Woman beaten, stripped and photographed while unconscious

A photograph of a woman unconscious and stripped of her clothes after having been beaten with a bat was shared to social media by her attackers.

The victim’s ordeal has been heard in New Plymouth District Court after Nicola Newton, the last of the three defendants involved, admitted guilt on Thursday.

According to the Crown summary of facts, the victim was at an address in Waitara on June 5 with Samuel William Potroz and Tania Marie Burns-Morehu.

The victim was accused of stealing $1200, which she denied, leading to Potroz searching out a baseball bat and threatening her with it.

Both Potroz, 23, and Burns-Morehu, 42, then demanded the victim take off her clothes, the summary stated.

But she refused, and as Potroz stood holding the bat over his shoulder like he was going to strike the victim, BurnsMorehu grabbed her from behind.

As the victim struggled to free herself, Potroz struck her head with the bat.

‘‘The victim was immediately knocked unconscious and fell to the ground,’’ the summary stated.

‘‘While unconscious and on the ground Potroz kicked the victim to the body a number of times.’’

When she awoke, the woman found she had been stripped of her clothing and was wearing only her socks, underwear, a singlet and bra. She had no idea what had happened to her, but it was later revealed that while lying on the floor Potroz had taken a photo of her.

Soon after, the victim’s friend arrived at the address and Potroz showed off the picture he had taken.

The friend then took the victim to hospital, where she was admitted. She suffered a head injury, a contusion to her eye, decreased vision, and pain to her shoulder, lower back and tail bone.

Potroz, Burns-Morehu and Newton all later shared the photograph to their respective Facebook pages, along with comments such as ‘‘caught a thief’’.

The woman was extremely upset and distressed the image had been posted online, the summary said.

In court, Newton, in her early 40s, pleaded guilty to a charge of causing harm by posting a digital communication.

For his involvement, Potroz previously pleaded guilty to possession of an offensive weapon, injuring with intent to injure and causing harm by posting a digital communication.

Burns-Morehu has been jailed for eight months for her role in the attack, after having admitted charges of common assault and causing harm by posting a digital communication.

Newton and Potroz will be sentenced on April 21.