CCTV, DNA led police to arrest man after attack
Driver denies abduction, assault counts
Wcrime and justice hen a young woman was found partially clothed, injured and panicked in rural West Auckland, it was clear something horrendous had happened to her. But what? And where? A jury in the High Court at Auckland yesterday heard details of what led police to arrest and charge Colin Jack Mitchell with the abduction and assault of a 23-year-old woman in February last year.
Mitchell is on trial following the assault, which allegedly happened at a quarry in Riverhead, West Auckland, soon after he allegedly picked the young woman up in Grey Lynn in the early hours of the morning.
Yesterday morning the jury heard the Crown’s theory about what happened to the woman, and were told how and why Mitchell was fingered as the suspect.
Mitchell has pleaded not guilty to charges of abduction, wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and assault with intent to commit sexual violation.
Crown Prosecutor Kirsten Lummis told the court what happened after the victim was found by police.
The officer who located her, bloodied and beaten and frantic, returned to the site the next day.
After police found the scene of the alleged crime, they started gathering CCTV footage and spotted a silver Ford Mondeo coming in and out of the quarry within a 15-minute period.
The vehicle was seen speeding away from the quarry at about the time the victim managed to call 111 — at 2.01am.
Police would later find footage of a car they also believe to be Mitchell’s in the Great North Rd area, extremely close to where the victim was last seen on similar cameras.
When a glove found by police was tested by forensic experts, DNA was found. That DNA would later be linked to Mitchell.
The jury will hear more about that DNA matching and linking process later in the trial.
Police were already hunting all owners of silver Ford Mondeo cars and were able to narrow the search with the DNA information.
The search led them to Mitchell — a truck driver who lived alone in Onehunga.
Mitchell’s car had a mobility parking permit in the front windscreen and police believed the same permit could be seen in the car captured on CCTV footage on Great North Road.
Police spoke to Mitchell, who denied being anywhere near the victim or the quarry on the night of the alleged attack.
During a search of his home, police took a toothbrush which, after being forensically tested, showed DNA that matched the sample found on the glove.