The jury of a High Court trial ran into issues behind closed doors. Photo / 123rf
The jury of a High Court trial ran into issues behind closed doors. Photo / 123rf
WARNING: This article discusses sexual abuse and may be upsetting to some readers.
A jury who spent a week listening to evidence in a High Court trial - including from a young child witness - ran into issues behind closed doors and the trial had to be aborted 45 minutes into deliberations.
The Far North man had been on trial in the High Court at Whangārei for a week, where he defended five charges against his niece of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, six charges of rape, one charge of an indecent act on a child under 12 and one charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
The defendant, who fathered two children with the woman - including a daughter whom he is also accused of sexually assaulting - has name suppression to protect the identities of his niece and daughter.
The charges were filed against the man in 2020 and it had taken three years to bring the case to trial.
The jury heard closing arguments on Friday last week and retired for the weekend prior to Justice Kiri Tahana’s summing up on Monday.
After the summing up by Justice Tahana, the jury retired for deliberations on verdicts around 12pm.
Shortly after, a note was sent from a juror to Justice Tahana disclosing the jury had run into views so conflicting that the opposing views were causing issues behind closed doors.
Around 45 minutes into deliberations, Justice Tahana decided the trial must be aborted.
High Court Justice Kiri Tahana oversaw the trial that ran for just over a week. Photo / Andrew Warner
Multiple witnesses had given evidence, including the woman, her daughter, the accused and the accused’s wife. The child struggled to give evidence through the trial and could no longer recall what had occurred.
The woman alleged the abuse first began when she came to New Zealand for a holiday as a teenager and was sexually assaulted by her uncle during a family trip to Scotts Point.
She claimed he then raped her in a Kaiwaka hotel on his way to take her to the airport.
The teenager returned to her uncle’s house months later after he allegedly lured her back to his remote New Zealand farm with the promise of a job.
It was the Crown case that for the next 20 years, the man raped her on various occasions while she lived in the home he shared with his wife and while working on the farm with him.
It was also alleged the uncle set up a marriage for her with an acquaintance, and after the pair were married the men would tie her up and take turns raping her. Her husband has since passed away.
The High Court will need to assign a new trial date. However, High Court trial dates in Whangārei are currently out until mid-2025.
Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.
