Pack rape trial adjourns as two accused break down

Two men accused of a pack rape 16 years ago have broken down defending themselves against a woman's claims.

The trial at the High Court in Wellington was adjourned briefly yesterday while a 47-year-old accused composed himself.

"This whole thing has devastated my life and everyone around me," he said, crying.

He said the woman involved had agreed to every sex act he and a friend had with her in Mt Maunganui in January 1989.

She was lying about not consenting, having her hands bound and being violated with an object.

"I have sat here day in and day out. It makes me sick," he said. "Does it disgust me? Yes, it does disgust me, but there was no rape, there was no force whatsoever."

He and three other men, aged 40, 46, and 53, are charged with detaining a woman without her consent with intent to have sexual intercourse with her, and raping her.

He faces an extra rape charge, and he and his friend each face two extra charges of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection.

Each man pleaded not guilty. Their names have been suppressed.

The woman said she had arranged through a go-between to have lunch with one of the accused but instead she was taken to a building and raped by five men.

She said the last one was nervous and seemed reluctant. The man she was speaking about, now 40, said a workmate had arranged for the men to have sex.

He said he had been nervous and embarrassed when he had arrived at the building where the incident happened. Three men were outside and one said to him, "in you go", but the woman had not been expecting him.

He said she was not angry or distressed. "If anything, she was the one who seemed to be in control."

He then broke down and the court adjourned briefly.

- NZPA