She alleged he was “under the influence” and whatever she said made him more angry. He started “lashing out”, wrapped a black, five-metre extension cord around her neck and began dragging her with it. She held out her hands to ease the pressure on her throat, she said.
“He tied it into basically a noose.”
In the video statement she said she was “terrified”.
Much of the soundtrack was inaudible, but she appeared distressed as she described the alleged assault, which included punches to the stomach and face, and hair pulling. She blacked out at one stage, to wake up and find him on top of her saying he was going to kill her.
She alleged he hit her in the mouth, and the majority of the blows he allegedly gave her were with a fist. He eventually pushed her out the door and threw her car keys after her, she said.
Questioned by Moses' counsel Mr Leighvi Maynard, she recounted a completely different version of events.
She told the court she had arrived at the house uninvited and neither Moses nor his family were expecting her.
Moses was “shocked” that she was there and both he and his brother asked her to leave. She said she arrived wanting to “make amends” in the relationship. She stayed that night and the next afternoon she, Moses, his brother and his brother's partner started drinking.
“What were you drinking?” Mr Maynard asked.
“I believe it was vodka cruisers.”
She said the subject of her leaving was brought up a few times during the day, and she did not react well to it.
“I lost the plot, started threatening to harm myself,” she said.
She told the court she then did harm herself by trying to hang herself with the cord she spoke about in her video statement. She alleged Moses tried to calm her down to “stop (her) from being a lunatic”. She told the court a screaming match ensued and he kicked her out.
She told the court she then walked away and ended up on a beach where a group of girls started asking her questions.
“I got a bit mouthy with them and one of them started yelling at me for being mouthy. It escalated into me arguing with all those girls, one slapped me in the face a couple of times and I staggered off,” she said.
At that point Mr Maynard suggested a halt in proceedings, telling the court they were at a stage where the complainant might need independent legal advice. The judge allowed the cross-examination to continue.
The woman then told the court she gave a video statement at the police station, but what she said in it was not true. She said the strangulation was self-inflicted, the bruises were self-inflicted, that she was having an “absolute meltdown”, throwing herself around and trying to strangle herself with the extension cord. She told the court one of the girls hit her in the face and pulled her hair, but she could not remember much about it.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Carl Neustroski told the court the witness was now hostile to the prosecution. Judge Cathcart disagreed, saying she was not acting in a hostile manner.
Sergeant Neustroski said he did not see the point in continuing with the case and there was difficulty in discerning which version of events was the truth.
The judge called a halt to proceedings and warned the woman that she was “in jeopardy”, having initially made allegations to the police, on the basis of which Moses was put on trial.
Moses was released and the charges dismissed.
