Brutal abduction and rape a 'living example of P'

Trevor Eagle

The brutal abduction and rape of a Napier woman is a living testimony to the dangers of the drug 'P', police and the attacker's lawyer say.

Trevor Eagle today admitted kidnapping and raping the woman in an attack which was so appalling there were cries in court when details were read out. There were also angry scenes outside the courtroom.

He faced 11 charges relating to the attack on a 24-year-old woman last week.

Eagle admitted the charges in Napier District Court, looking down and saying guilty in a way which could only barely be heard in the courtroom.

Defence lawyer Derek Quilliam said outside the court that Eagle did not know the victim and had been house-sitting next door at his sister's home when what began as an aggravated burglary spiralled out of control.

"He has a lack of memory of any of it but he knows he was involved and has accepted that," Mr Quilliam said.

"His remorse and shame has attained an appropriate level. He's a living, walking example of the dangers of P."

Detective Sergeant Mike Foster said Eagle regularly used P, or methamphetamine, and used the drug during the abduction and sexual assault of his victim.

"It's consumed him and he has done what he's done," Mr Foster said.

He said Eagle had a criminal history but was not known as a sexual predator.

The attack began last Tuesday when the woman was abducted from her home at knifepoint. The crimes, including one each of abduction, rape, indecent assault, aggravated burglary, unlawfully taking a motor vehicle, and six of sexual violation, were then committed in a remote Hawke's Bay forest over the course of more than a day.

The woman eventually made her escape, hiding in the bush until the following morning.

Barely clad, she then walked 3km until she was rescued by Rotorua logging truck driver Doug Broughton.

Eagle, a 31-year-old unemployed Napier man, was arrested last Thursday morning between Whakatane and Opotiki following a tip-off from a member of the public who saw the woman's stolen car.

More than a dozen people left the public gallery immediately after his court appearance today. A barely audible "we are with you" was heard from his supporters.

Mr Foster said the victim's partner was supporting her as much as he could and the couple was getting a huge level of support from the local community.

"They are just trying to get their lives back on track," he said.

Eagle will be sentenced on February 24. Mr Quilliam expected the Crown to seek preventive detention, which would mean only the Attorney General could release him from prison.

- NEWSTALK ZB, HERALD STAFF, HAWKE'S BAY TODAY, NZPA