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Allegations
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A man accused of pack-raping
a 20-year-old woman at Mount Maunganui 16 years ago, went along to a lunch
time rendezvous in the hope of participating in group sex, he told the High
Court in Wellington today. The man, now 53, is
among four men accused of luring a woman into an empty building on the
promise of a lunch date with a man she liked. There she alleges she was
restrained and raped. The man was the first
of four to give evidence in a trial which is in its second week. He told the court he
was a recently separated 36-year-old man in January 1989. "I wasn't in a
serious relationship at the time. I had a number of ladies coming in and out
of my life." When asked if he had
raped the woman he replied, "I have never raped anybody in my life. "I have never had
to rape any woman." Facing charges of rape,
abduction and two charges of unlawful violation, the man admits having sex
with the woman but says it was consensual. He told the court he
accompanied one of his fellow accused to a lunch time rendezvous he had been
told would involve group sex. "I went in because
I saw an opportunity for me to be party to the event as well -- that was
group sex." When the two men
arrived at the empty building the woman was already there with another of the
accused. She welcomed the two men with cuddles and kisses, he said. "If she had told
me I wasn't welcome I would have left. I felt that I was welcome to be
there." The other accused men
40, 46 and 47 are expected to give evidence and have all denied charges of
raping and abducting the woman. The defence opened its
case today with lead lawyer Paul Mabey, QC, telling the jury of four men and
eight woman that the essence of the trial was whether what happened inside
the empty building was consensual. "There are some
things this trial is not about. "This trial is not
about morality. Criminal trials are not about morality, they are about
breaches of the law. "Morality is
different. It is personal, it is subjective, it varies." The names of the
accused have been suppressed |
