A Northland man was allegedly beaten for three hours by identical twins, who are on trial at Whangārei District Court this week. Photo / NZME
WARNING: This article discusses graphic violence and may be upsetting to some readers.
A relaxing Friday evening turned into a night of torture after a man was beaten for three hours in his own home, allegedly by two family friends.
With the motive unclear, the complainant has given evidence one of the men was allegedly screaming “you gave me cancer”.
Identical twins, Colin and Graham Whines, of Ngunguru, are currently on trial at the Whangārei District Court on several violence charges.
The charges include wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, wounding with intent to injure, threats to kill, kidnapping and unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition.
Graham Whines is also charged with perverting the course of justice after he allegedly sent a text message with images of guns and ammunition to the complainant after the alleged assault.
The court heard the twins had grown up with the complainant, Troy Hansen, in Auckland and then reconnected in the years after 2020 when the families discovered they had all moved to Northland.
At around midnight on February 16, 2023, Hansen opened the door of his Whangārei property to the twins who had turned up unannounced.
After Graham went to the bathroom, he allegedly grabbed hold of Hansen tightly while Colin allegedly struck him across the head with a beer mug.
For the next three hours, the twins allegedly unleashed a brutal onslaught, raining down up to 50 blows with fists, feet and bar stools.
They allegedly strangled him with a tablecloth, doused him in vodka and tried to ignite him. Throughout the ordeal it’s alleged they repeatedly threatened to kill Hansen and his family.
Hansen managed to escape and reach help at his parents’ house and told them two Māori men had assaulted him at his house. This allegation was recorded on a 111 call and played in court.
After being hospitalised with open wounds, concussion, broken ribs and a collapsed lung, he eventually told police it was not two Māori men but the Whines twins.
Crown lawyer Alex Goodwin said DNA evidence placed the twins at the scene and the brothers had clearly executed a plan to assault Hansen.
“The Crown says when they are trying to escape and you stop them, it’s unlawful. They’re not consenting and the defendants knew they were not consenting,” Goodwin said.
Defence lawyer John Howell told the jury the twins were at the complainant’s home but were not present when the violence took place.
“He makes a statement to police that it was two Māori men that did this to me,” Howell said.
“You must keep an open mind right through until verdict and my clients are innocent until proven guilty.”
Hansen gave evidence on Monday about the night he thought he was going to die.
“The first thing Colin said was, as he’s got tears coming from his eyes, he’s saying, ‘we’ve been planning this for a whole year’,” Hansen told the court.
Hansen said that as he was being strangled, Colin repeatedly punched him – shattering the glasses on his face, then allegedly using the broken shards to try to gouge out his eyes.
“It was full strangulation,” Hansen said.
“How much pressure was being applied?” Hamber asked.
“It was unbelievable.”
He said when his rib popped, Graham allegedly said, “did you hear his rib crack?”
After allegedly being assaulted for three hours, Hansen could not breathe as his lung had collapsed. He said he had a request of the brothers.
“I said, ‘If you’re gonna kill me can I have a cigarette and coffee before you do?’”
Graham made him a coffee while the assaults continued and allegedly told his brother, “We gotta kill him, Colin”.
Hansen said the brothers were allegedly telling him to make a choice of which family member they would kill, to which he responded, “You can kill me”.
“Graham was the one doing most of the stuff, he was doing most of the talking but they were both involved from start to finish.”
According to Hansen, the brothers just stopped the assault and left, driving slowly out of his driveway.
“I just thought, this is weird.”
When questioned by Hamber about why he had said it was two Māori men, he said he had made a promise to the accused twins he wouldn’t tell anyone.
“I knew these boys had guns. They were threatening to kill my family. But I was always going to tell,” Hansen said.
Under cross-examination by Howell, Hansen said he was not sure what the motive was but they were allegedly making strange comments that did not make sense.
“When he [Colin] was giving me a beating, he was saying, ‘you gave me cancer’,” Hansen said.
“What you’re doing is making things up,” Howell put to the complainant.
“I don’t think so, sir.”
Judge Keith de Ridder is overseeing the trial, which is expected to finish on Friday.
Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.