Jordan Tegus, 27, was heard to say "I can't believe that" as the jury's foreperson read out the 15 guilty verdicts. Photo / Catherine Hutton
After the jury delivered their verdicts in the latest case, Judge Noel Sainsbury thanked the jurors, telling them he appreciated the careful and considered way they had conducted themselves, and noting that much of the material had been “confronting, disturbing and very difficult”.
“I want to acknowledge the incredible work you’ve done on a difficult case,” he said.
The jury’s verdicts came at the end of a two-week trial, during which Tegus took the stand in his defence, insisting he had consensual sex with his latest victim and denying that he had ever hurt her, claiming she had lied.
“I’ve never raped her, I’m not that kind of person,” he told the court.
But the woman gave the jury a different account. In hours of pre-recorded interviews and testimony, she spoke of the rape and violence meted out by Tegus, saying she’d been raped and filmed by him without her consent.
Summing up the case before deliberations began, Judge Sainsbury spoke of the stark differences between the Crown and defence cases.
On one hand, Tegus was abusive and controlling towards the woman, and on the other, she was infatuated and immature towards him.
Crown prosecutor Claire Hislop had told the jury that, if the woman rejected Tegus’ advances, he would exert physical and psychological control over her. She urged them to believe the woman’s account.
But Gretel Fairbrother, one of three lawyers representing Tegus, submitted that the case was about the woman who, at the time, would have done anything for Tegus and wanted to please him.
Ultimately, the jury found him guilty of three charges of unlawful sexual connection, two each of assault, making an intimate visual recording, sexual violation by rape, wilfully perverting the course of justice, and failing to provide police with his Pin code, and one each of indecent assault and breaching a protection order.
Tegus, who was brought back into court after the jury was dismissed, was convicted by Judge Sainsbury and remanded into custody until his sentencing in March.
His last request, as he was led from the courtroom, was to see his lawyers.
Police: Victims’ voices heard, abusers held accountable
In a short statement released to NZME after the verdicts, Detective Rosalind Newson thanked the jury.
“They have endured a long trial that, at times, has been very confronting. The verdicts ensure that the offender will be held accountable for the horrific offending against a vulnerable victim over a long period of time,” she said.
“I also want to acknowledge the victim, and the courage and bravery it took for her to tell her story, not only to police but also in court.
“These verdicts are an important reminder that victims of abuse, who are too often not believed, can have their voices heard and their abusers held accountable.”
Catherine Hutton is an Open Justice reporter, based in Wellington. She has worked as a journalist at the Waikato Times and RNZ. Most recently, she was working as a media adviser at the Ministry of Justice.
