KEY POINTS:
Sophie Elliott's best friend broke down as she recounted Miss Elliott's description of how Clayton Weatherston had thrown her on his bed and straddled her during an alleged assault in late December.
Jessica Smith told a Dunedin court that Miss Elliott, 22, had gone to the flat of Weatherston, 32, to take him a present before she was to leave for a new job in Wellington.
But when Miss Elliott said their relationship was over once and for all, Weatherston's mood "changed completely", Miss Smith relayed.
"He said, 'It's over, is it? Is that what it is?' Then he picked her up and took her to his room, where he threw her on the bed ... put his arm across her throat and started yelling things at her.
"He'd gone from saying how much he loved her and she was the one for him, to saying she was fat and ugly and a whore and that she was mean to her parents and didn't deserve to be happy."
Miss Smith told her friend to report the incident to police, but Miss Elliott had said no because she had no bruises and was leaving Dunedin soon.
Miss Smith's evidence was given on the third day of the depositions hearing in the Dunedin District Court against Weatherston, who is accused of fatally stabbing Miss Elliott, his former girlfriend, at her suburban Ravensbourne home in January.
Miss Smith said Miss Elliott had often told her Weatherston was not treating her well and she had counselled her to end the relationship.
She said her friend had not wanted to leave with any enemies, so had visited Weatherston two days before her death to hand him a cheque for a door she had damaged after a heated argument in November.
Under cross-examination from defence lawyer Judith Ablett Kerr, QC, Miss Smith said she could not recall any specific incidents where she had personally witnessed Weatherston belittling Miss Elliott. She said Miss Elliott was "very" concerned she was not satisfying Weatherston sexually and needed reassuring about her weight and looks.
- OTAGO DAILY TIMES
