Accused 'made sexual advances'

By Alison Horwood and Eugene Bingham

WELLINGTON - A pregnant woman escaped the clutches of murder accused Scott Watson only when her friend snatched her from his grasp, it was alleged in the High Court at Wellington yesterday.

Less than 30 minutes earlier, she had told Watson to get lost after he boldly approached her for sex.

Kristal Jae Baillie, a nanny from Carterton, told the court that after midnight a man sidled up to her while she was talking to two other women in the grounds of Furneaux Lodge in the Marlborough Sounds.

Within a minute he began making "disgusting comments." She could not recall his exact words, but he said he liked the look of her and wanted to sleep with her.

Miss Baillie told Watson to leave her alone and "stop dreaming." An older man in the family group she was holidaying with stepped in and pretended to be her father to protect her.

Soon afterwards she was sitting on the stage in the garden bar with her friend Delina Meredith Mihaere, when the same man approached.

"I didn't see him come up but I heard Delina talking to someone," she said.

When she saw he was the same man she said: "Let's go," and the pair pushed their way through the crowd.

"He grabbed my arm and tried to pull me back," she said. "My friend Delina tugged me through the crowd and he lost his grip on my arm."

She identified the man from police photos as Watson.

Miss Baillie told crown prosecutor Paul Davison, QC, that she had had only a couple of drinks because she was pregnant.

The court heard earlier that a lone sailor by the name of Scott offended partygoers with sexually explicit language and offers of Prozac, a prescription anti-depressant drug.

Edward Barnaby Sundstrum, a student, said the man was being suggestive towards two young women and attempting to entice them on board his yacht. Mr Sundstrum said he had bumped into some friends who were talking to a man with tattooed forearms called Scott.

"He was trying to get us on board his boat, asking the girls particularly. He was being particularly sexually explicit towards them."

Mr Sundstrum said he could not remember the exact words because it was so long ago.

The man had offered the group Prozac.

Under cross-examination, Mr Sundstrum admitted he had been drinking beer from about 1 pm on New Year's Eve.