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Allegations
of Sexual Abuse |
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Muffled sobs turned
into wailing when a jury found four men guilty of pack-raping a woman in Mt Maunganui
16 years ago. The men's supporters
broke down, despite Justice Ron Young's request for them not to show any
reaction while the verdicts were delivered, out of consideration for the
jury. The woman whose
complaint in April last year led to the trial was also in the High Court at
Wellington, slipping into the back row flanked by police and leaving as soon
as the 13 verdicts were read yesterday. A police spokesman said the woman
would not comment on the result. The jury found Peter
Mana McNamara, 46, of Mt Maunganui, Warren Graham Hales, 40, of Tauranga, and
two men, aged 47 and 53, whose names are still suppressed, guilty of
abducting and raping the woman. The men whose names were suppressed were
acquitted of sexually violating the woman with an object, but both were
convicted of separate sexual violation charges and the 47-year-old was
convicted of an extra rape charge. Key details in the case remain suppressed,
but Justice Young refused to continue suppression of the names of McNamara
and Hales. All four are in custody
pending sentencing on August 5. Unlike their supporters they did little more
than shake heads to show they disagreed with the verdicts. The woman, now 37, had
told the jury she had fancied one of the men and through a go-between had
arranged what she thought was lunch with him in January 1989. Instead she was
lured to a hut where her hands were bound and she was raped and subjected to
other indecencies. The men said it was she
who had suggested sex and had been a willing partner. It was denied she had
been restrained or that an object was used during the incident. The jury of eight women
and four men had begun considering its verdicts at noon on Monday and
returned with a result a few minutes before noon yesterday. The trial began
on June 20. The woman now lives in
Australia. |
