Alleged kidnapping trial aborted due to 'Covid-19 reasons'

The complainants were alleged to have been held at this Rotokauri house against their will. Photo / Google maps

A trial involving the alleged kidnapping, robbery and assault of a group of friends has been aborted due to "Covid-19 reasons".

The jury trial, in the High Court at Hamilton, was due to start its sixth day of proceedings this morning when Justice Pheroze Jagose aborted the trial due to Covid-19 issues.

The specific reasons were suppressed by the judge.

Hamilton man Troy Mudford, 21, together with Shannon Jenifer Avery, 39, of Brightwater in Nelson, and Maxine Danielle McWaters, 30, of Matamata were defending four charges of aggravated robbery relating to the alleged theft of wallets, cellphones and clothing.

They also each deny four charges of kidnapping, while Avery faces an additional charge of assault using a knife as a weapon.

Mudford, 21, faces two additional charges of assault using a hammer as a weapon, threatening to kill, injuring with intent to injure, and demands with menaces property belonging to another victim with intent to steal it.

They are accused of kidnapping, assaulting, robbing, and ordering two of them to strip and hug after a bungled cannabis purchase.

The crown alleged the incident happened over the weekend of January 16 and 17, last year after the four friends went to pay a friend back after earlier grabbing a "$50 bag" of cannabis.

Complainant Gavin Clasper gave evidence explaining how they were held against their will between midnight and between 7am and 9am, while his partner, Brittany Jordan, told the jury she thought she was going to die as Mudford allegedly swung a hammer wildly around the room.

She said she had never "had the feeling of waiting for death to happen" before.

"Your whole body just tenses up and you're waiting."

They were taken into a room and Jordan testified how the male was threatening to kill them the whole time.

"They told us all to line up against the wall, cross our legs and put items of clothing over our heads.

"I thought everything is going to go black now. I'm going to die."

Another complainant, who was granted name suppression, said she hardly looked at Mudford as she "didn't want to".

"I couldn't stand the look of him."

As the night turned into morning, she described how her health began to deteriorate, especially as she suffered from diabetes and her blood sugar was getting low.

"I felt like I was going to have a seizure, a hypoglycaemic attack."

A new date for the trial is yet to be set down.