Men deny pack-rape allegations

A woman yesterday told a High Court trial she was set up to be gang-raped by five men on the pretext of a date with one of them.

Events surrounding the alleged pack rape of the woman, then aged 20, at Mt Maunganui in January 1989 were outlined in Wellington yesterday.

Four men face trial as a result of a complaint laid by the woman in March last year. A fifth man alleged to have been involved has never been identified.

Two of the accused were public servants at the time. Widespread orders were made preventing identification of the accused, details which may reveal their specific occupations then and now, and the description of two items said to have been involved in the alleged offences.

Christchurch Crown Solicitor Brent Stanaway is prosecuting.

The woman told the court she was working at Mt Maunganui in the summer of 1989 when she met three of the five men through her work.

She developed an attraction for one, which she had thought was mutual, and asked one of his associates - another of the accused - to set up a date.

The associate agreed and arranged to take her to meet the man she liked so the pair could have lunch together. Instead she was taken to a building in Mt Maunganui.

She had wanted a chance to get to know the man away from the others. "It was supposed to be a casual, lighthearted [meeting]."

When they arrived the man who took her there said: "In you go, he's waiting for you."

She went inside to discover there were five men present and an old stained mattress on the floor. "I got a hell of a shock." The woman is to continue her evidence today.

In his opening, Mr Stanaway said the woman was by then fearful. She was told to lie down. "She felt powerless and believed she had no choice but to do what they said. She then knew she was going to be raped."

She was restrained, her clothes removed below the waist and the men took turns raping her. The two civil servants masturbated as the other raped her, Mr Stanaway said. When one finished raping her he said to the other: "Here you go man, your turn".

One of the civil servants forced her to perform oral sex and penetrated her roughly with an object up to 20 times. The other penetrated her with his fingers.

In their opening address, lawyers for the accused said all four men admitted having sex with the woman but said it was consensual and denied she was detained.

Defence lawyer Tony Balme said the woman would be exposed as having "developed a series of lies".

A second defence lawyer, Rachel Adams, said the woman was "a willing and even enthusiastic participant" in group sex.

She asked the jury to understand the mood of Mt Maunganui in the summer.

"There was a huge influx of young people. It was the liberal 80s."

The charges

* Four men who have name suppression face charges of rape and abduction after the alleged pack rape of a 20-year-old woman at Mt Maunganui 16 years ago.

* Two are also charged with unlawful sexual violation.

* One man is also charged with a second count of rape and unlawful sexual violation.

* The men have pleaded not guilty to all charges.