Rape complainant admits helping defendant

Press, 29 May 1985, Page 6

Rape complainant admits helping defendant

A young Christchurch woman who is the complainant in charges of rape and threatening to kill, admitted in cross-examination in the High Court yesterday that she had taken the accused in her car to Waikuku to show him a bach in which she thought he could hide from the authorities.

The woman, aged 16, admitted that she knew he was looking for a place to hide and that he was “on the run” from the authorities, but she denied letting him put his arm round her or sitting with with him on soft sand on a walk track at Kaiapoi, where she alleges he raped her on the night of January 13.

On trial before Mr Justice Hardie Boys is Athol Trevor Waters, aged 30, who is accused of rape and threatening to kill the woman at Kaiapoi. The Crown prosecutor is Mr D. J. L. Saunders and Waters is represented by Messrs K. N. Hampton, and M. G. Lee. Mr Saunders said in his opening address to the jury that the complainant had driven to a female friend’s place and they had driven to see a friend of her friend’s at an address in Christchurch. There she met the accused, known as “Colin.” She had become aware of the accused’s wish to find somewhere to stay in the country so she had driven the two others to Waikuku where her aunt had a bach.

They then drove to Kaiapoi where the complainant wanted to show her friend a

house where a friend of her mother lived. At the end of the street was a track, and the accused had asked where it led to. The complainant's female friend had decided to stay in the car while the complainant and the accused walked along the track. It was there that she alleged that the accused grabbed her round the stomach and put his hand over her mouth and threatened to slap her if she screamed. He had then tied her hands behind her back with a stocking and thrown her to the ground, said Mr Saunders. The accused had lifted her skirt and removed her pants from one leg. She had told him she was having her period, but he removed her tampon and threw it away. He then took his trousers down and raped her, said Mr Saunders. At no time had she consented.

They returned to the car and before they got back he removed the stocking from her hands and threw it away. She was aware at the time that he had a shotgun in the car. She had complained to her friend and the next day to the police that she had been raped, said Mr Saunders. Mr Saunders said that when the police went to the track they recovered some stocking material, a used tampon and a torch, which the complainant had said the accused had left at the scene of the alleged rape.

When interviewed two days later by a detective the accused had at first denied being with the complainant. He subsequently

admitted being with her but denied having sex. Later he had admitted having intercourse but had said that the complainant had consented. He said that she had kissed and cuddled him.

The complainant said in evidence that it was cold and dark on the track and “Colin” had carried a torch. She had said that after about 10 minutes walking that they should return to the car. As she had started back he had pulled her from behind and put his arm round her mouth and threatened to slap her if she screamed. He had tied her hands with something that felt like a stocking, which burnt her skin and left a scar. He had then raped her.

She said that as she walked back to the car she asked him what he was going to do then. “I thought he might cut me up or something,” she said.

He had told her that what he did would depend on her. If she did not say anything, nothing would happen. “He said he had a gun in the car and he wasn’t scared to use it,” she said.

The complainant said that she knew there was a gun in the car in a bag. She had first seen it at the address in Christchurch where she had met the defendant.

In cross-examination by Mr Hampton the complainant denied giving the accused her telephone number after returning from Kaiapoi. She said that her friend had given it to him. She agreed that she knew he was looking for a place to hide in and that he was

on the run from the authorities. She agreed that she had suggested that he hide in her aunt's bach at Waikuku, but people had been in the bach so he could not use it. She denied that she had "taken quite a shine" to the accused. She denied telling the accused the track was a place where he could hide. The complainant denied under cross-examination that she had gone onto the track with the accused because she wanted to be with him, and denied letting him put his arm round her. Told by Mr Hampton that the exact sequence of events she had described about the alleged rape was different from the sequence she had described in the District Court, the complainant said that she found it hard to remember.

She denied making up the story because she was afraid her parents would be angry because she did not get home until 4 a.m.

Detective Constable Kelvin John Burgess said that he had interviewed Waters, who at first denied knowing the complainant or having intercourse with her. Asked if he had had sex since getting out of prison, Waters had replied that he had not, and that he had not been interested because he was taking a lot of pills.

He later said that he and the complainant had held hands and talked and that after kissing and cuddling they had had intercourse, to which the complainant had consented. He was then formally cautioned and gave a written statement. (Proceeding)