Gang member beat and raped partner, court told

Police allege Tone Witika beat his partner in front of other gang members after she wore his patch. Photo / APN

Black Power gang member Tone Witika regularly beat his partner and raped her when he thought she was sleeping around on him, a Rotorua court has been told.

One of the worst beatings she allegedly suffered at his hands was after Witika was de-patched by the gang because she was seen wearing his "treasured" gang patch.

The 31-year-old former Taupo man is on trial in the Rotorua District Court before a jury and Judge Phillip Cooper, facing 16 charges relating to domestic violence.

He is also charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm - it is alleged Witika wanted to kill their unborn baby.

All the charges relate to the period between April 1, 2007, and November 19 last year.

His partner was declared a hostile witness by Judge Cooper after she refused to repeat her complaint in the witness stand yesterday.

She said police pressured her into signing a statement after she had been at the station for 13 hours with her children.

In an opening address yesterday, Crown Prosecutor Shane Walsh told the jury they were going to hear an "ugly story" of "systematic and ongoing abuse inflicted on the victim".

However, the woman had retracted her statement and wanted to "continue her life with him".

Witika's partner had been in a relationship with a man for 19 years when he was killed in a forestry accident in 2006.

The woman's children to a former partner witnessed many of the attacks on their mother, the prosecution said.

"The accused did his best to ensure no one else knew. She was unable to seek medical treatment," Mr Walsh said.

Witika was cruel at times, practically keeping her hostage in the home, he told the jury.

"He'd lock the house with her and the children inside when he went away overnight. He took the keys from the car and he took the battery out of the car so she couldn't leave."

Mr Walsh said Witika once beat his partner in front of other gang members because she "disrespected him", holding her against a wall by the throat, choking her.

He said Witika often accused her of sleeping around and would then rape her, Mr Walsh told the jury. When he made the children watch the assaults, she would tell them to close their eyes and they would beg him to leave their mother alone.

Witika would tell her: "This is what happens when you don't ... listen".

Mr Walsh said once, when the woman was heavily pregnant, Witika punched and kicked her in the stomach.

Although she was concerned about losing her baby, the woman wasn't allowed to see a doctor, he said.

The court was told a few months later, as she slept on a mattress in the living room, Witika punched her in the head, making her nose bleed.

He pulled her off the mattress and stabbed her under the arm.

Mr Walsh said Witika later told her he had done it because he was de-patched because she was seen wearing his gang patch in town.

Another time he knocked her out when he "belted her across the head", Mr Walsh said.

He said abuse came to a head in November last year when during a beating Witika kicked her viciously in the street and a truancy officer turned up to see her upset.

The trial is expected to continue until tomorrow.