The courts Jury acquits man of assaulting girl

Press, 9 October 1979, Page 7

The courts Jury acquits man of assaulting girl

A man. posing as a policeman, enticed a 15-year-old girl from the food bar in Cathedral Square called the Dog House late one evening and near the comer of Gloucester and Manchester Street, punched her in the stomach "to calm her down.” Mr Justice Casey and a jury were told in the Supreme Court yesterday.

The jury found George Witana. aged 50. a process worker, not guilty on a charge of assaulting a girl aged 15 on August 18. His Honour discharged Witana. Mr B. M. Stanaway appeared for the Crown and Mr E J. Tait for Witana.. who pleaded not guilty. The girl, now aged 16, said that late on the evening of August 17 she went to the Dog House to get a meal. She met Joe Mason who was with Witana who said that he was a policeman and took out a notebook.

Witana said that he wanted to talk to her about Joe Mason because he had been in a bit of trouble and he wanted to know about Mason getting beaten up. He asked her name and address and wrote them down in the notebook. Because it was noisy in the Dog House because of the coin machines Witana asked her to come outside, the girl said. They walked down Press Lane into Gloucester Street and crossed the Manchester Street intersection. On the way they passed a police car and Witana told her that if the police asked her anything she was to say that she was Tommy’s girlfriend. That made her suspect that he was not a policeman. Witana kept asking her

questions about Joe Mason and persisted after she said that she did not know anything about him. When she began crying Witana punched her hard in the stomach. She asked him what that was for and Witana said it was to calm her down. A car pulled up and a man got out and said something. She was crying and Witana had his arms around her. A woman in the car asked if she was all right She ran over to the car. got in and locked the door. She was taken to the police station where she made a complaint, the girl said. ~ Detective R. T. G. Ealam said that Witana told him that it was the girl who had taken him away from the Dog House to discuss a confidential matter which he refused to disclose. He denied telling the girl he was a policeman because he knew it was an offence. Witana said that he produced the notebook because the girl wanted him to take down details. Witana denied that he had punched the girl and said that if he had she would not have been standing. He said he had not been trying to take the girl to his flat in Barbadoes Street. Detective Ealam said. Witana said in evidence that the girl had approached him in the Dog House and

n asked him for a cigarette, d She told him that she wanted - him to discuss something e with her and asked him to d come outside. i. Outside they kept on walk-, s ing and the girl told him that s.she was having difficulties with several of her boyn friends, had no work and no-' t : where to stay. She asked him a for a loan of $2O. The girl started weeping f’and he suggested that he take ti|her to his aunt who looked d after people in difficulties, si The girl replied that he only if;wanted to take her there to -<have intercourse with her. He had never punched her, n Witana said. n| In his final address to the dijury Mr Stanaway said that e members should totally dis- . count the evidence of Wit-i-lana. d “Can you really believea that a 15-year-old girl would v approach a perfect stranger a and ask to confide in him e her personal problems. It’s a 1 most unlikely story. The only - proper verdict is one of. guilty,” Mr Stanaway said, d Mr Tait said that the jury d: could not be satisfied beyond tla reasonable doubt that the d girl was assaulted as she alo,leged. Witana had denied asn saulting the girl when seen e by the police and in court that day. It was most signie Scant that the girl had no ind juries to indicate that she had d been struck, said Mr Tait.