A parolee who raped a young woman in the toilets at a Napier bar was yesterday sentenced to six and a half years in jail.
Paora Tahau, 22, of Hastings, was appearing in Napier District Court, having been found guilty on one charge of rape but not guilty on another charge of rape and one of having unlawful sexual connection, all relating to the few moments in the ladies at the Thirsty Whale on West Quay early in the morning of February 19 this year.
Tahau had denied the charges when his trial started before Judge Geoff Rea and a jury of nine women and three men in the court on October 31, claiming the sex was consensual.
The verdicts came three days later and were yesterday described by defence counsel Scott Jefferson as an "unusual mixture" of outcomes.
Tahau and the 20-year-old woman met for the first time in the bar during the evening, with part of Tahau's introduction being that he had just been released from prison where he had been serving a sentence for a serious assault.