Auckland businessman on trial accused of assaulting and strangling woman in apartment

An Auckland businessman accused of assaulting a woman in March 2022 appears in court on the first day of his trial in the Auckland District Court on November 26, 2024. Photo / George Block

An Auckland businessman accused of strangling and assaulting a woman in his apartment two years ago says he was the one under attack.

The man is on trial this week in the Auckland District Court and has pleaded not guilty to three charges of assaulting the woman on one night in March 2022, and one of strangling her.

In her video interview to police, played to the jury on Tuesday afternoon, the young woman told a constable of her terror during the alleged attack.

She alleged he strangled her with a force she described as seven out of 10.

“I felt extremely helpless,” she said.

“I felt like I was fighting for my life. I was terrified.”

But the man’s lawyer Ron Mansfield KC said there was no strangulation.

Mansfield, in his opening statement to the jury, alleged the woman had repeatedly bitten, scratched and struck his client during their relationship.

It was happening again in his apartment after a night out two and a half years ago, so the man forcefully removed her from his home, Mansfield said.

Ron Mansfield KC. Photo / Michael Craig

“This night was just like one of those prior nights. She got upset, she struck out at him, she bit him, and as a result he sought to remove her from the apartment.”

The woman gave evidence on Tuesday afternoon and said she had bitten the man on the thumb during the struggle, while he was trying to drag her from the apartment.

“I was doing anything that I could in order to stop what was happening,” she said.

Judge Paul Murray declined the man’s bid for continuing interim name suppression on the morning of the start of his trial on Tuesday. But he still cannot be named pending an appeal.

Crown prosecutor Pip McNabb said the accused and his then-girlfriend were drinking at a friend’s place in downtown Auckland when he became so drunk she had to take him home to his apartment nearby.

The man was not happy at being taken home and when they got there, a verbal disagreement turned physical, McNabb said.

He struck her on the jaw, causing her to fall over, before getting on top of her, putting his hands around her neck and strangling her, the prosecutor alleged.

McNabb said he then dragged her along the ground and threw her out the door into the apartment’s hallway, before locking her out. Neighbours heard the commotion and came to her aid, offering her a place to stay for the night, she said.

The prosecutor said the complainant, who cannot be named due to the suppression order, suffered extensive bruising and a concussion.

In her March 2022 video interview by police, the woman said she had been dating the man for a little over two years.

She been working out of town and had arrived back in Auckland on the evening of March 11 to meet the man and his friends at a Mexican restaurant for dinner.

The man had acted negatively towards her, belittling her work and telling her at one point to “go and sit with the other housewives”, she told the constable.

The couple ended up going back to one of their friend’s homes for a nightcap. Before long, the accused was so intoxicated he could barely walk and talk, she said.

She described walking him home a few minutes up the road to his apartment in downtown Auckland. He became unhappy she had taken him home, she said.

“The disagreement became physical and my recollection of the events is that [he] basically pounced on me,” she told the officer.

He struck her on the jaw on the right-hand side of her face and she fell to the ground, knocking her head, she said.

She alleged he then straddled her with his knees on her chest and strangled her with both hands.

After this, he allegedly dragged her out of the apartment, threw her on the ground in the hallway outside and locked the door.

The woman said she texted the man trying to at least get her keys. He refused to let her back in but at one point opened the door, pushed her to the ground again then slammed it shut, she alleged.

The woman, who entered the witness box after her video interview was played to the jury, told the court she was under the care of a concussion clinic for six months and physical therapy is ongoing.

On Tuesday morning, before the Crown opened its case, Mansfield applied for the man’s interim name suppression to continue until at least the end of the trial.

Mansfield argued publication of his name before any allegations were proven could cause extreme hardship to himself, his family and his business interests.

The Herald opposed the application and argued the high threshold of extreme hardship required for suppression after a first appearance - beyond that experienced by anyone named as facing criminal charges - was not met.

The Crown also opposed the application. McNabb said the man had only applied for suppression last week, when the media began showing interest in the case, after he had spent more than two years on bail without suppression.

The man has enjoyed considerable business success in Auckland in recent years but his field and the names of any businesses he is associated with cannot be published under the suppression order.

Judge Murray said personal embarrassment is something that can ordinarily follow publicity around criminal charges and ruled the presumption in favour of open justice was not displaced by the man’s arguments.

Mansfield immediately indicated his intention to appeal so the judge stayed the order for 20 days to allow an appeal to be filed.

The trial continues. Mansfield is expected to cross-examine the complainant tomorrow.