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A woman who says she was raped by a man in an Auckland motel has been accused of making up her story.
Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
The man, who has provisional name deletion, is on trial before Judge Venning in Auckland High Court this week.
He pleaded not guilty to one charge of rape rape, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
This morning, the plaintiff told the court that she met the man on a date at a bar on the Auckland Viaduct in early 2018.
He said they chatted about their lives, occasionally kissed, but he didn’t think it would go beyond the first date.
The woman told the court that the man “went crazy” when he realized he was texting two friends while he was taking her to another bar in Mt Eden.
“When I texted my two friends [the man] I got really mad about it. He said ‘why was he texting other people? I was with him on a date and I can see my friends all the time. ‘
“‘Why do I need to message other people, especially children?’ The fact that they were both children seemed to frustrate him more and it just came out of nowhere.”
The woman said the couple eventually left the Mt Eden bar and the man drove for a while saying he was looking for a bottle shop.
She said she was confused when she stopped at a motel, but went in anyway thinking she would arrange a ride home once she was inside.
The complainant cried describing how the man got angry when she explicitly refused to go beyond kissing in bed.
“He came over and sat next to me and started kissing me again. Then he started putting his hands on my legs and pushing my dress up.
“He pulled my dress up and then I think he went to touch me and I told him I didn’t want to do anything that night; ‘No, not tonight, not now, I don’t want to do that today.’
The woman said the man raised his voice before quickly calming down but refusing to take her home; saying that he had consumed too much alcohol that night.
She said she got into bed fully clothed and away from the man, but he put his arm around her, kissed her, and then raped her.
The court heard that the woman called her mother at 6.15am the next morning before the man dropped her off near her family home the next day.
The man’s defense attorney, Tiffany Cooper, told the court that the sexual activity between the couple that night was consensual and that the woman’s story was a fabrication.
While questioning the plaintiff, she told the court that there were “ample opportunities” to get out on bail on the date or to leave the motel that night.
The woman repeatedly said that she was telling the truth and felt that she was unable to leave the motel that night due to the volatile behavior and physical size of the man.
She said she realized she had left her purse at one of the bars when she was at the motel and felt like she couldn’t leave without cash or the keys to her house.
Cooper pressed the woman on his own, asking her why she hadn’t left the room or texted someone asking for help that night.
She cried when she told the court that she had froze when the man assaulted her and wished she had asked for help that night.
Trial before a judge alone before Judge Venning lasts for three days.
