Threats affected statement, witness says

A man who belatedly claimed to be witness to an alleged attack on a pregnant woman lied to police after he was allegedly threatened, the Timaru District Court heard on Wednesday.

Nathan Weir did not mention the attack when he spoke to police two days after the alleged incident. He mentioned it four months later, while in custody after injuring the woman who allegedly attacked the pregnant woman on February 14, 2015.

Whitiora Henry, 22, is alleged to have punched and kicked a 19-week pregnant woman at an Arthur St, Timaru, address. She pleaded not guilty to one charge of injuring with intent to injure on the first day of the jury trial on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, Weir told the court his phone was used by Henry to arrange a meeting with the woman - whom Henry had just learned had been sleeping with Weir - to confront her about money taken from his bank account.

He took the complainant to the Arthur St address, where she was allegedly attacked by Henry.

In response to a question from Crown Prosecutor Matt Beattie on Wednesday, Weir said he did not mention the violent incident when interviewed by police in February because he feared for his safety.

Henry told him to lie to the police and ’’I was being threatened by [Henry’s] family’’, he said.

During cross examination, defence lawyer Craig Ruane put it to Weir that he and Henry made no mention of an assault when they went to the police station to report the missing money on February 14.

Two days later, after the complainant had seen police, he told police he and Henry spent time at Henry’s mother’s place but did not mention a confrontation.

He acknowledged this in court, as he did in the statement he made on June 11, 2015, in which he said Henry used his phone to arrange the meeting that led to the incident. Ruane said Weir was in custody in June, due to appear in court for a charge of injuring with intent to injure Henry. It was the second time he had appeared in court for another charge for assaulting her. Prompted by a question from Ruane, Weir acknowledged he had ‘‘completely changed’’ his story by that time.

Beattie asked why he did not sign his statement to police until October. Weir said his statement had names in it, and ‘‘if [it] got out, I would be harmed.’’ Beattie asked whether it was right to assert Weir had a motive to attack the woman, as suggested by Ruane during the trial on Tuesday.

‘‘She was pregnant with my first child. All I ever wanted was a family,’’ Weir said.

The victim’s mother told the court she picked up her daughter from a dairy after the incident. She was ‘‘really upset and distressed’’ with cuts and bruises on her face, hands, and knees.

She took her to the police who advised to take her to hospital. In response to a question from Ruane, the mother said her daughter had told her ‘‘the girl had attacked her’’.

An interview between Henry and Constable Samuel Hawker, recorded on February 16, was played to the court. In it, she described how she received many unsolicited text and Facebook messages from the complainant, who was bent on taking her partner. She did not mention seeing the complainant on the day of the alleged assault.

The woman’s continued interest in her man generated deep feelings of hatred. On several occasions, she said she had threatened to hurt and even kill her: ‘‘I want to slit her’’, she said.

Hawker put the assault allegations to her. She said she would have liked to have seen it happen, but indicated it did not. ‘‘I’m a mother, no matter how much I hate someone I’d never put a baby at risk. That’s disgusting.’’

The trial continues.