Riverhead trial: Nightmare at Auckland quarry
She was covered in blood. Her attacker was nearby. She thought she would die.
When the flashing police lights finally broke the darkness, she ran towards them wanting only one thing — a hug.
That is what a 24-year-old woman told police in an emotional interview days after she had been allegedly abducted from an inner Auckland city street.
The woman is at the centre of a trial against Colin Jack Mitchell a 60-year-old truck driver from Onehunga - who is accused of abducting the young woman and attempting to sexually assault her.
The victim, who has name suppression, had been in Ponsonby Rd drinking with friends at the Auckland Pride Parade on February 25 last year.
Over the course of the evening she spent time with friends and became intoxicated.
In the early hours of February 26, the woman became separated from her friends and began walking alone down Great North Rd in Grey Lynn. It was at this point, the Crown allege, Mitchell — who was driving around the city — either coaxed or forced the woman into his car.
In an interview shown to the jury at the High Court in Auckland on Wednesday, the woman told police she couldn’t recall much from that evening.
One minute she had been on Karangahape Road, the next thing she was in what seemed like a quarry with a masked man standing over her.
‘‘I woke up in a gravel area and I can remember feeling this side of the head and it was just covered in blood. I think I had my undies on but I am not sure. I definitely did not have my dress on,’’ she said.
‘‘There was a man with a mask and so I think it was some kind of softball or baseball bat.’’
‘‘I can remember feeling this side of the head and it was just covered in blood.’’
Somehow the woman managed to get away. She had no idea where the attacker was, and had somehow managed to call police.
Mitchell faces charges of abduction, wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and assault with intent to commit sexual violation. He denies abducting the woman, claiming he was bathing his legs in the waters at Onehunga beach on the night of the attack.
*Visit stuff.co.nz for full court coverage.