Woman acquitted of assault with crank-handle

Press, 3 September 1981, Page 5

Woman acquitted of assault with crank-handle

A woman, in the District Court yesterday, was found not guilty by a jury on alternative counts of assault in which the Crown had alleged she struck a motorist with a crank-handle after his car had been stopped by her group. The defendant, Maimua Toomalatau, aged 43, a housewife, had denied alternative charges of assaulting Robert Edward Stoop with intent to injure him, and assaulting Mr Stoop. She was discharged by Judge Pain. The jury took an hour and a half to reach its verdict. Mr D. J. L. Saunders appeared for the Crown, and Mr M. J. Knowles for the defendant.

Mr Stoop gave evidence of driving in Marshland Road, in the early hours of January 30. when a car swerved in front of his van and cut him off. The occupants of the car alighted and began smashing windows of his van.

He was then dragged on to the road and hit.

He was struck by a metal object and he rolled underneath his van to escape the attack.

Mr Stoop said he must have passed out at some stage because he next remembered being put in an ambulance. He was taken to hospital and remained there for two months.

His injuries included severe bruising to a leg and burns to an arm, and body. He received skin and miis-

cle grafts in hospital. He said that during the attack somebody had screamed out that he had cut them off. A married woman. Roseline O'Keefe, gave evidence of driving home after finishing work at 7 a.m. and seeing a man at the open van door at the intersection, punching the driver. A woman was on the other side of the van trying to hit him from that side.

The defendant then ran towards the van, and hit the driver with a metal bar, as he sat in the driver's seat. She also broke the windscreen. Cross-examined, she said the defendant hit the driver several times with the bar after breaking the windscreeen. He was hit while inside his van. Graham Edw’ard Robb, a railway worker, said he saw the defendant trying to hit out windows of the van with a bar similar to a crank-' handle, while a young Islander was punching the driver.

He could not see what happened when the windscreen was broken. Constable D. Kirk said the defendant was taken to the Papanui Police Station. She could not speak English. He showed her the two pieces of steel taken from a station wagon at the intersection and she pointed to the crankhandle. Mr Knowles called no defence evidence. He submitted in his address to the jury

that the defendant admitted using the crank-handle and breaking windows of the van but there was no evidence pointing to her having assaulted Mr Stoop. He suggested that Mr Stoop's evidence couid not be relied on. Mr Stoop had claimed that he received burns from the exhaust when he rolled under his van, but other witnesses said they did not see this. Mr Knowles submitted that on the evidence the jury could not find that the defendant hit Mr Stoop, as opposed to breaking the windows of his van. MAN DISCHARGED After a District Court trial this week, Wayne David Brown, a carpenter, was found not guilty by a jury on alternative charges of false pretence, and using a document to obtain an pecuniary advantage. Judge Pain discharged the defendant.

Ths jury took 20 minutes to reach its verdict. The defendant had denied the charges of false pretence by representing that a car was worth $4OOO, and causing New Zealand Insurance Finance, Ltd, to make a cheque for $2250 payable to Gasson Motors, Ltd; and with obtaining a cheque for $l4OO from Gasson Motors, Ltd, with intent to defraud.

The charges related to August, 1978. iMr B. M. Stanway appeared for the Crown, and Mr J. J. Brandts-Giesen for the defendant.