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A Tauranga businessman has been accused of raping a woman after allegedly stupefying her with the party drug ketamine.
The man, in his early 40s, appeared in the Tauranga District Court on Thursday facing two charges of sexual violation by rape.
He also faced a further charge of trying to intimidate the complainant the day before his arrest on February 4, after she was allegedly threatened by a woman known to the accused.
The man was granted bail by Judge Thomas Ingram despite strong objections from police, the Bay of Plenty Times reported.
The judge said he had real concerns over any allegation involving intimidation of a witness but at this stage there was no evidence linking the defendant to the alleged threat.
He said that without more substantiative evidence to support the allegation, he was prepared to grant bail on the basis that the accused observe a 24-hour curfew to live outside the Bay of Plenty.
The man, who was also granted interim suppression of his name and that of his business, is barred from having any contact with his alleged victim and other police witnesses.
Officers allege that last weekend, the accused and the complainant met at a Tauranga address, where he plied her with alcoholic drinks, stupefied her with ketamine - a prescription-only sedative - and then raped her.
The defendant claims the sexual intercourse was consensual but police say the woman, who is in her 20s, was incapable of giving her consent after the sedative drug was allegedly administered.
During a search of the man's address police allegedly found a small amount of ketamine.
But the accused's lawyer told Judge Ingram the allegations were absolutely denied.
Judge Ingram said the issue of bail and the suppression order would be revisited next Wednesday when the man is due back in court.
The judge said that on that day he wanted to see a sworn statement by the complainant to substantiate her claim of intimidation, plus an affidavit from the accused setting out the grounds why suppression should continue.
- NZPA
