Taser close to eyes: Woman

Ayoung woman says she begged police to stop hurting her as she lay handcuffed on a carpark floor before a constable allegedly pressed a Taser between her eyes.

“What’s his f***ing name or I’ll f***ing Taser you!”

Mary Jane Takerei claims officer Sean Mathew Doak made the threat after she was dragged from a car in Auckland’s Sky City Casino carpark on September 17, 2017.

The incident resulted in Doak being charged last year with assault with a Taser and of illegally presenting a restricted weapon. The constable, 25, denies the charges and is on trial in the Auckland District Court.

The incident came after a police pursuit of a white Subaru, in which Takerei, 23, was the passenger. After its tyres were spiked, the pursuit ended in the underground carpark.

Doak and rookie Constable Florence Roberts were first on the scene, the court has heard. Takerei claims Doak opened the car door and said: “Where the f*** is the b***?”

“Did you just call me b***?” she recalled replying.

Takerei said Doak then peppersprayed her. “It burned really badly . . . It just burned my whole face.”

Multiple officers have said Takerei hit Roberts in the face with a spray from a canister, possibly CRC. However, Takerei denied it.

After being dragged away from the car and handcuffed, Takerei said she couldn’t open her eyes.

“Please stop, please stop, you’re hurting me,” she recalled yelling. “Knees were on my back . . . If I was struggling it would’ve been to just make things stop hurting me.”

After trying to locate the driver, Doak returned, Taser drawn, CCTV footage played to the jury showed.

Crown prosecutor Bruce Northwood alleges Doak assaulted Takerei when he held the weapon near her head. Footage shows her legs flailing as Doak kneels near her head.

“My head got ripped up from the ground,” Takerei said. “I knew it was the same person who peppersprayed me. I just felt something on my head.”

Doak had yelled: “What’s his f***ing name or I’ll f***ing Taser you.”

Counsel Todd Simmonds said Doak was trying to question a woman “vigorously” resisting arrest. While the Taser was in Doak’s hands there was “no threat”, Simmonds said.

The trial is scheduled to conclude this week.