A man was accused of raping his former partner in Kaikōura while on a road trip in November 2021. The charge has been dismissed, but he continues to defend another rape charge. Photo / Molly Marshall
WARNING: This story deals with allegations of sexual harm and may be upsetting.
A man has spent a year of what was meant to be a working holiday in New Zealand in prison awaiting trial on charges of rape and kidnap.
The man, whose name is suppressed, is defending the charges in the Nelson District Court following a brief relationship with a woman he met in 2021.
One of two charges of rape was dropped yesterday, on day four of his trial, following an agreement between the Crown and defence.
The court has heard the man arrived from Malaysia in March 2020 on a working visa. In April of the following year, he met and then “fell in love” with the complainant.
The woman had come to New Zealand from China and was in temporary, casual employment when they met while living in shared accommodation on a North Island orchard.
Defence lawyer Lee Lee Heah said yesterday the man would not have been able to foresee the chain of events that would evolve, and culminate with him being remanded in a New Zealand prison the following year.
The man was accused of raping the woman as she slept one morning in July 2021, and then later in Kaikōura in November of that year while on a road trip.
But the rape charge from the alleged incident in Kaikōura has now been dismissed due to a lack of clarity around consent and the defendant’s reasonable belief in consent in circumstances where Judge Jo Rielly did not consider it was safe for the jury to consider a verdict.
The trial continued on a single rape charge stemming from the alleged earlier incident and another of kidnapping, which arose when the pair were in Kaikōura.
The man took the stand yesterday, following the complainant’s evidence over two days via video link from where she now lived.
She alleged she had not consented to having sex with the defendant at the time in question, and that on other occasions she hadn’t wanted sex with him but allowed it out of duty.
The man was surprised and confused by her allegations.
He couldn’t understand why he was being accused of rape when he was in a relationship, he told police in an evidential interview played at the trial.
In July 2021 the pair were living in the Tasman region having moved from the North Island for seasonal work. They had rented a room in a house in which the owner and another person lived briefly.
That person was called as a witness and described how she got to know the complainant, who had told her she didn’t want to have sex with the defendant but he had forced her, and that they had taken on a “30-day challenge” of having sex.
The man said in the police interview that soon after they met they embarked on the challenge but failed to meet the target because the complainant didn’t want to continue.
When she said she didn’t want to do something he didn’t push her, he said.
The incident that led to the alleged rape in July 2021 occurred on the morning the woman was due to go to a job interview in Nelson. The man said he had taken the day off work to drive her there, but she was still “sleepy” so he woke her “in a romantic way”.
He told police she was unhappy he wanted sexual contact when she was sleepy.
“When we drove to interview, she told me she was unhappy.”
In answer to a question from the police, he said he understood the meaning of consent.
The Crown suggested in cross-examination of the man that there was an expectation he could have sex with the woman whenever he wanted and that because he was in a relationship it couldn’t be rape.
The man said he would not rape his partner.
The charge of kidnapping arose following an argument between the pair when they were in Kaikōura. The man allegedly started to drive the woman to Christchurch against her will, which led to police intervention.
The woman had called the police from the car and the constable who later pulled them over after the car had turned around and was headed back to Kaikōura described her as appearing frightened while the man seemed “apologetic and polite”.
The constable, who was called as a witness, said he told the man that “what he’d done was wrong and it had made her scared”.
He considered it to be a potential family harm incident but the pair were by then going their separate ways and he didn’t think it necessary to issue any documents.
When asked if he had considered laying a kidnap charge the constable said it had crossed his mind, but the woman appeared eager to get back to Nelson and without a statement from her there was insufficient evidence.
The Crown and defence will deliver their closing statements today before Judge Rielly sums up the case for the jury.
SEXUAL HARM
Where to get help:
If it’s an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.If you’ve ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone, contact Safe to Talk confidentially, any time 24/7:• Call 0800 044 334• Text 4334• Email support@safetotalk.nz• For more info or to web chat visit safetotalk.nz
Alternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list.
If you have been sexually assaulted, remember it’s not your fault.
Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.
The assault happened about 11am Saturday at Avalon Park.