‘Kidnap victim’ hard to find

Police struggled to find a man allegedly kidnapped and bashed by Mongrel Mob members because he could not tell them where he was.

The High Court in Christchurch has heard Dawson Reihana sneaked a cellphone from his ‘‘guard’’ and phoned police on the morning of August 9, 2015, to tell them of his ordeal.

Reihana, 35, told police he had been bashed with hammers and knuckledusters, punched and stomped while he was held at addresses in Ajax St, Shirley, and then overnight at an address in Bowenvale Ave, Cashmere. He said he was transported between addresses in a van, and was asked about his friends’ addresses.

Matthew Joshua Mulvey, 35, Leon Delshannon Turner, 41, a builder, Peter Damian Gilbert, 46, a concrete worker, August Keefe, 57, Mathew James Rowe, 41, a bricklayer, Jason Phillip Reweti, 35, a labourer, and Dylan Raymond Shannon Corbin, 27, are on trial in relation to the incident.

All are charged with kidnapping Reihana. Mulvey, Turner, and Gilbert are charged with wounding him with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. All except Keefe are charged with injuring him with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

The second day of the trial before Justice Cameron Mander and a jury was told by police witnesses that they were alerted by police communications to ‘‘a kidnapping in Cashmere’’.

The Crown told the trial on Thursday that Reihana – already bashed and injured – had managed to get to the cellphone of the man left ‘‘guarding’’ him at a Bowenvale Ave address, Reweti, after Reweti fell asleep. He called 111.

Police said the location of the caller was unknown, and Reihana did not know where he was. Police checked the cellphone signal and narrowed it down to a one-kilometre radius of a cellphone tower in Cashmere.

Units including armed police headed into the area, stopped a Mongrel Mob vehicle seen leaving, and decided that the location could be a Mob house in Bowenvale Ave.

Police witnesses said they surrounded the house, stopped two men seen leaving and then found Reihana himself walking out. He was taken to hospital.

Detective Donavan Aitken told of questioning Mulvey, who was arrested for assault after being found at another address. When Mulvey was told of the allegation

Police checked the cellphone signal and narrowed it down to a one-kilometre radius of a cellphone tower in Cashmere.

by Reihana that he had been ‘‘kneecapped’’, he replied: ‘‘He’s got an active imagination.’’

Dr Christine Quigley said Reihana had been brought to Christchurch Hospital’s emergency department by ambulance on August 9, with obvious injuries. He had extensive bruising to his face and was complaining of ‘‘pain in multiple areas’’.

There was bruising around his eyes and they were swollen shut. He had several lacerations to his head, including one where the tissue had been lost, leaving a hole two centimetres by 1.5cm. He had bruising to his chest wall, stomach area and left knee.

X-rays and scans showed the only broken bone was a nasal fracture, which did not need surgery.

Dr Quigley said Reihana was ‘‘calm and co-operative’’, and was fully conscious.

There were mild head injuries, with several lacerations and a fair amount of soft-tissue swelling, she said when cross-examined by a defence lawyer who asked about the extent of injuries that might be expected if someone had been bashed by claw hammers.

The trial will continue with evidence from Reihana on Monday.