Mob rape count dropped

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34106, 19 March 1976, Page 2

Mob rape count dropped

(N Z. Press Atsoctatwtt) WANGANUI, March 18. A charge of rape 'against a member of Ithe Taumarunui Monjgrel Mob has been dis- | missed by Mr Justice Beattie in the Supreme Court at Wanganui.

Opening today’s afternoon session he told the jury the charge had been dropped after the hearing of eight hours legal argument in the jury’s absence. However, the 20-year-old man still stands accused of indecent assault, to which he has pleaded not guilty. Eight other members of the Mongrel Mob are accused of raping and another of attempting to rape an 18-year-old girl in Taumarunui bn January 4. One is also charged with stealing her driving licence. Mr F. F. Latham and Mr S. J. Taylor, appear for the Crown. Five of the accused are represented by Mr P. A. Williams, three by Mr M. H. W. Lance, and two bv Mr J. W. Tizard.

The jury left the court at noon yesterday while legal argument was being heard, and after returning to hear one witness this afternoon were dismissed until tomorrow while counsel argued the admissibility of certain police evidence. A forensic scientist, Mrs Catherine Anne Brown, of the D.5.1.R., said she examined the clothing of the complainant and all the accused. The girl’s jeans, panties, and a vaginal swab showed traces of seminal fluid, and the panties were heavily bloodstained. Jeans and underclothes worn by seven of the accused had seminal stains, but no traces were found on clothing worn by the other men. C r o s s-examined, Mrs

Brown said some of the clothing she examined was dirty, and looked as if it had been worn for some time. Seminal fluid would be identifiable for an indefinite period if the garments remained unwashed. She said she had also looked for blood and signs of a struggle when examining the clothes.