Trial begins in Wellington for men accused of beating new dad on night out

Nicholas Crosby was at Calendar Girls in Wellington with his partner, brother and sister-in-law before the fight broke out. Photo / Google Maps

A night out ended violently for a new father when, after a scuffle, he lay “seizing” in a cold puddle, blood covering his face.

Nicholas Crosby threw the first punch, but the two men he came up against in the early hours of July 31 last year are alleged to have had the upper hand when the blows continued and he couldn’t fight back.

Lelu Apineru and Henry Atoni both face a charge of injuring with reckless disregard and are on trial in the Wellington District Court.

During her opening remarks, Crown prosecutor Harriet Farquhar did not deny Crosby threw the first punch but said the continued assault by the two accused was an over-extension of power rather than self-defence.

Farquhar said the pair had the upper hand in a “two-versus-one situation”, using their force to attack Crosby, even when he no longer posed a threat.

Crosby and his partner Renee Hunter had been drinking in town with his brother Jacob Crosby and sister-in-law Ruby, who had surprised the couple with a visit from Northland.

The group got ready at an Airbnb before venturing into the city centre and bar hopping in a popular nightlife area in the capital.

They met another couple, Jordan Reglar and Courtney Renshaw, at a bar on Courtenay Place and continued to drink there before moving to another venue.

The court heard there was an incident at one bar where Crosby entered into a verbal exchange with a bar patron, prompting them to leave.

They were declined admission by the next bar and that’s when they reached Calendar Girls on Dixon St.

The group entered the site after Crosby’s brother sobered up, but their time was cut short when they said they were made to feel uncomfortable after being yelled at by bar staff.

It was then, when some of the group was outside, the fight occurred. CCTV footage shown to the court showed a flurry of punches.

Two men are on trial following an altercation during a night out in Wellington last year. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Crosby’s partner had given birth to a baby girl four months before the incident.

She told the court it was hard to leave their daughter at home, but because Crosby’s brother and sister-in-law had surprised them they decided to travel from the Kāpiti Coast to Wellington for a “good night out”.

Hunter said she had told Apineru and Atoni to move along after observing their facial expressions and posture, claiming she “knew there was going to be trouble”.

“Just the way they were carrying themselves and the way they were looking at him,” she said. “That’s when I said, ‘we don’t want any drama tonight, keep it moving along’.”

But an exchange between herself and the men prompted Crosby to throw the first punch.

What happened next was a blur to Hunter, who said she heard her partner’s head hit the concrete. She alleged the two men were on top of Crosby and said the punches appeared to be constant.

She said she screamed for help and at one point kicked one of the men in an attempt to stop the fight.

Crosby was covered in blood and he was experiencing body tremors, described as “seizures”, and needed to be resuscitated while on the way to the Wellington intensive care unit.

Lawyer Karen Bailey, on behalf of Apineru, put to Hunter that it was Atoni who was on the ground and Crosby had bitten the men and attempted to gouge one eye.

She put it to Hunter that the delay in her statement, three days after the incident, was because she was too intoxicated, but this was denied by the woman who said she was traumatised and at the hospital.

“It was touch and go whether Nick would live so I was just crying by his side the whole time,” she said.

Her intoxication levels were questioned by lawyer Craig Smith on behalf of Atoni as well, and when pressed further she admitted Crosby may have bitten the men in self-defence.

The couple who met the group that night also gave evidence today, with Reglar saying the fight was a blur as he attempted to restrain and protect Crosby so it would stop.

Reglar told the court he had heard Crosby say to the men, “you think you’re hard?” and wasn’t expecting the punch.

His partner, Renshaw, said she saw the two men on trial throwing “six to 10″ punches at Crosby, aiming at his stomach and head, and the amount of blood “freaked her out”.

Renshaw said she was worried for Crosby’s safety, and although it seemed like he wanted to continue to fight “there wasn’t a lot he could do from the position he was in”.

“I feel like Nick was kind of pinned,” she said. “He started having what looked like seizures lying on his back facing the sky ... he was covered in blood and he started shaking and it happened lots more times after that, too.”

The trial, set down for four days, continues tomorrow.

Hazel Osborne is an Open Justice reporter for NZME and is based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington. She joined the Open Justice team at the beginning of 2022, previously working in Whakatāne as a court and crime reporter in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.