Beating charges dismissed

Two men accused of beating a South Auckland couple in a violent home invasion last October have had the charges against them dismissed.

Jay Maui Wallace, aged 27, and Peter Anaru Matehaere, 32, were facing counts of aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Manurewa couple Robert Rogers and Lorraine McEwen both needed surgery after intruders broke into their home and beat them shortly after midnight on the Saturday of Labour Weekend.

Lorraine McEwen's son, Rodney, was also tied up during the attack.

Police alleged the home invasion was organised by Mr Rogers' ex-wife, Patricia Mahutoto, and carried out by four men, including Wallace and Matehaere.

But on the sixth day of a High Court jury trial at Auckland yesterday, Justice Susan Glazebrook discharged the pair at the conclusion of the Crown case against them.

The men's lawyers, Dr John Priestley, QC, and Frank Hogan, applied for the discharges, but Justice Glazebrook suppressed her reasons for granting the applications.

The trial is continuing for Mahutoto and another man allegedly involved in the raid, 27-year-old Christopher Hereora. A fourth man, Illya Monty Waipouri, has pleaded guilty to charges relating to the attack.

Mahutoto, represented by Allan Roberts, took the stand yesterday to deny Crown claims that she arranged the beating because she was jealous of her ex-husband's new relationship and the way he managed her affairs while she was overseas.

The prosecution alleges Mahutoto enticed the men into carrying out the attack by telling them Mr Rogers slept with a suitcase containing $40,000 cash beside his bed. Mr Rogers told the court last week that he had never had a large sum of money at the house.

Mahutoto, a 52-year-old rest-home caregiver, told prosecutor Anne Kiernan yesterday: "I would never want to hurt my ex-husband. "He's a good man."

She said she knew nothing about the attack, did not know any of her four co-accused, and had not been upset by Mr Rogers' new relationship.

The trial continues today.