Man tells of night-long beating

Last updated 21:29 14/06/2010

A witness is alleging that he was intimidated into submission and given a night-long beating by a man who described himself as being associated with the Mafia.

The Christchurch victim was beaten and eventually stabbed in an assault that the Crown alleges ranged across the city on a rambling car trip.

The 30-year-old accused was granted name suppression at the start of the trial by Christchurch District Court Judge Michael Crosbie, and the reason for the suppression was also suppressed.

The man is charged with threatening to kill his victim, kidnapping him, five separate assaults, assault with intent to injure, and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. He is also charged with wilfully attempting to pervert the course of justice.

The man alleges he was punched repeatedly, and beaten with a set of martial arts nunchakas, hit with a fire extinguisher, a chair, and stabbed in the leg with a knife.

Crown prosecutor Sally Carter told the jury that the incident began about 8.30pm on February 13 last year, when the man became upset with a flatmate, apparently over a financial arrangement.

The man had arranged for the flatmate to buy a car for him and had borrowed money from his own mother to make the purchase. The car deal had been delayed and the man had spent the borrowed money, and was not happy.

He threatened to kill the flatmate and refused to let him move out. He began punching the flatmate, threatened him with nunchukas. He drove off with his alleged victim in the car, refused to let him get out, and continued to punch him.

Miss Carter told the jury: "He was making out he was the big man. He was in control."

The pair drove from New Brighton to Belfast and Rolleston where the man punched the flatmate again and told him he had just lost $500. The flatmate did not know what that was about.

They went through a McDonald's drive-through but when the victim tried to get out of the car he was told not to try it. Miss Carter said the man told him: "I'll have you before the police get here. Your blood will be running from one side of the road to the other."

They then drove to the man's house where the flatmate was frog-marched inside and the beating continued during the night.

He delivered this beating because the man had cried in his car "like a bitch", she said.

Miss Carter said the accused's behaviour was bizarre and frightening but he behaved normally when friends visited during the night. The alleged victim, who did not have any visible injuries at that stage, did not say anything because they were not his friends and he did not know what might happen.

In the morning, the accused stabbed him in the leg with a knife and then got his mother to deliver him to the hospital where stitches were needed for the wound.

He also told his victim to say that he had got the injury in a fight in the city, or had sat on a sofa where a knife had been left.

Cross-examined, the alleged victim denied that he had made up parts of his account about the man claiming to be associated with the Mafia and being a millionaire.

The trial is expected to last four days.

From: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/3811361/Man-tells-of-night-long-beating