Daughters: mother wanted to hurt ex

The daughters of a woman accused of organising a violent home invasion against her ex-husband have told a court their mother earlier spoke about breaking the man's legs.

Manurewa woman Patricia Mahutoto, aged 52, is charged with the aggravated burglary of her ex-husband, Robert Rogers, his new partner and her son at their Manurewa unit last October.

Three men - Christopher Hereora and Jay Maui Wallace, both aged 27, and 32-year-old Peter Anaru Matehaere - are jointly charged with Mahutoto.

The four are also defending charges of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and the aggravated robbery of a wallet and ring from the house.

On the second day of a trial in the High Court at Auckland yesterday, Mahutoto's daughter, Marilyn Sylva, told prosecutor Mark Treleaven about a conversation she had with her mother after the marriage broke down.

Ms Sylva: "She wanted someone to hurt Robbie [Mr Rogers] the way she was hurting.

"I think that was just because of all the hurt that was going on inside of her."

Mr Treleaven: "Did she say how she wanted Robbie hurt?"

Ms Sylva: "She wanted to break one of his legs."

Mr Treleaven: "Did she say who she wanted to do that?"

Ms Sylva: "No."

Another daughter, Denise Walker, said Mahutoto asked her during a telephone conversation: "Would I break Robbie's legs for a thousand bucks."

Ms Walker said her mother was not angry at the time and, knowing her, "she meant nothing of it."

Mr Rogers, who spent a month in hospital after the attack recovering from head and facial injuries, told the court he had no memory of the night of the beating.

The 55-year-old furniture salesman said that about a year earlier, after telling Mahutoto he did not want to see her again, she drove the car he was a passenger in towards a power pole and crashed into a fence.

"She said: 'I'm going to kill you and your girlfriend'," he told the court.

Mr Rogers said that a few months later, while he was waiting at a bus-stop, Mahutoto drove a car onto the curb, hitting him in the knee.

"She got out of the car and said: 'I didn't break any bones this time, arsehole, but I will next time'."

The trial, before Justice Susan Glazebrook and a jury, continues today.