Man on trial for abuse, kidnapping

A man has gone on trial in New Plymouth accused of sexually abusing and kidnapping a woman more than two years ago.

Aaron Lee Wallace denies charges of injuring with intent to injure, unlawful sexual connection, threatening to do grievous bodily harm, kidnapping and three counts of male assaults female.

In his opening statement to the New Plymouth District Court yesterday, Crown prosecutor Justin Marinovich said Wallace and the complainant had had an ‘‘unhealthy, on-again off-again’’ relationship.

On November 25, 2018, the complainant, who cannot be named, was planning on attending a birthday party and had told Wallace she was ‘‘pretty much over’’ him.

Wallace had driven to the party at 3am and a physical argument ensued in which he went from aggressive to passive, Marinovich said.

‘‘This is the Jekyll and Hyde personality of the defendant.’’

Not wanting to make a scene, the woman chose to leave with him, and about 6am they drove to the Back Beach area and went for a walk. They started kissing and at that point the complainant consented to sex, Marinovich said.

However, he then performed a sexual act that hurt her and did not stop, despite her telling him to.

Afterwards, she walked towards the road and tried to flag down a car, but Wallace stopped her, pulled her down and threatened to bite her face.

He also pushed his forearm down on her throat, and she started to fear for her safety, Marinovich said.

The woman eventually told Wallace they would go to Moturua to buy cigarettes, and while there she talked to a female passerby who helped her get away.

When the complainant later texted Wallace that she was going to the hospital, he tried to dissuade her and said: ‘‘Then I’ll get charged hon’’, to which she replied: ‘‘I’ll make something up you f...en idiot. Should have thought about that before you f... ed me up and kidnapped me, eh.’

Defence lawyer Patrick Mooney told the jury that what they had heard was not evidence.

Wallace was innocent of the charges, he said. ‘‘What happened on the 25th of November a couple of years ago was not as described.’’

A video of the complainant’s interview with police was played in court. In it, she described the fight at the party, with Wallace calling her names like ‘‘slut’’ and accusing her of sleeping around.

When they were near Back Beach, she said the pair ‘‘started to have sex’’ and Wallace did something she did not like and she told him to stop.

‘‘He’s not stopped and he hasn’t let me get away. If I fight back or do anything in my mind I thought it was going to get worse.’’

Afterwards, she went to the road but did not want to get back in the car with him. ‘‘It’s like Jekyll and Hyde with him, like nothing’s happened.’’

There was a cycle of hitting and yelling in the car while he parked in different spots, she said. ‘‘I had thoughts of ‘he’s going to take me back to his house; I’m going to be held there’.’’

She was fearing for her life, she said.

When she went to the hospital she told the nurse she had fallen over, and the nurse asked her how it really happened, she said.

In court, Marinovich asked the complainant about text messages between the pair, where she had told him it was over, but then told him he could come to the party.

‘‘This was the twisted thing ... this was just our relationship, love-hate,’’ she said.

The trial, before Judge Gregory Hikaka, continues.