NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Man tells of Nia being spun on clothesline

NZPA
29 Oct, 2008 06:59 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Nia Glassie. Photo / Supplied

Nia Glassie. Photo / Supplied

A man who saw three-year-old Nia Glassie fly off a revolving clothesline, screaming, told the High Court at Rotorua today he challenged three of the five people charged over her death.

When he saw the little girl "chucked" onto the wires of the line a second time, Rawhiti Simiona said he went up to the fence between his mother's property and the house where it happened.

"I yelled out `you f***ing idiots' and got a look of `someone's been watching' from Michael Curtis, and that was it," he said in evidence.

The 25-year-old had gone out the back door for a smoke when he saw three adults over the fence "swinging a kid on the line" about 4pm on July 18 last year.

He identified Michael Curtis and Oriwa Kemp in court but was unsure of the identity of the second man.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The prosecution alleges it was Michael Curtis's brother Wiremu Curtis, who was the partner of Nia's mother at the time.

Mr Simiona initially watched as a small child was put carefully onto the bars of the line and whirled around gently by Michael Curtis while the other two adults looked on.

A short time later, the child was lifted off "with some affection, if you could call it that".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Meanwhile, the witness heard a little girl "moaning she wanted to get up on the line too".

Kemp and one of the men forcefully told her to shut up but she kept on complaining she wanted a turn.

The witness said he then saw Michael Curtis grab the young girl (allegedly Nia) under the armpit and "chuck her on".

She clung to the centre pole as Curtis spun the line at an increasing pace.

At first she was laughing but then began screaming to get off.

"The line just got faster and faster."

Michael Curtis kept on swinging it as Kemp and the other male stood watching, Mr Simiona said.

"She flew off the line backwards. I heard them laughing and saying `see what happens when you want to get on the line and be a humbug'."

He said he was walking over to the fence when he saw Michael Curtis, who was holding the toddler by the leg, fling her back onto the clothesline.

She landed on the wires between the two lateral bars and "just tried to grab onto anything she could".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Before long, the girl fell through the wires back onto the ground while the adults stood and laughed.

"She was just screaming - she was crying, crying."

That was when he confronted them, the witness said. They said nothing as he walked back inside still swearing.

Michelle Bartlett, a former neighbour of the Curtis brothers, their partners and children, said she and her family moved next door at the end of June last year.

The mother-of-three said she would hear a baby screaming and crying at night "all the time".

Usually starting about 8pm, she would hear it when she went out to her verandah for her hourly cigarette.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Ms Bartlett said she mostly went to bed about 1am or 2am when the crying stopped.

Asked by Crown prosecutor Amanda Gordon how she could determine which house the screaming came from, the witness said: "I just knew".

Each time it was the same type of cry.

"I have heard a lot of children crying before. It was a hurting cry, not a hungry or I'm tired (cry). It was a scream."

Ms Bartlett said she stayed up until it stopped because it was annoying.

"I didn't know what to do. I could have rung somebody or done something but I never."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

She had not seen any adults at the house but would hear "quite loud, quite basey music" late in the evenings. It drowned out any other noise from the property.

Michael Curtis, 22, and Wiremu Curtis, 18, have pleaded not guilty to murdering Nia.

Nia's mother Lisa Kuka, 35, Michael Pearson, 20, and Kemp, 18, have pleaded not guilty to manslaughter.

The trial continues tomorrow

- NZPA

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

Lotto Powerball jackpots to $10m, two winners split $1m

05 Jul 09:16 AM
New Zealand

Watch: Jet boat joy rides through swollen stream as severe weather batters parts of NZ

05 Jul 08:41 AM
Auckland

Person seriously injured falling from vehicle in Pokeno crash

05 Jul 08:16 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Lotto Powerball jackpots to $10m, two winners split $1m

Lotto Powerball jackpots to $10m, two winners split $1m

05 Jul 09:16 AM

The winning tickets were sold in Auckland and on MyLotto to a Waikato player.

Watch: Jet boat joy rides through swollen stream as severe weather batters parts of NZ

Watch: Jet boat joy rides through swollen stream as severe weather batters parts of NZ

05 Jul 08:41 AM
Person seriously injured falling from vehicle in Pokeno crash

Person seriously injured falling from vehicle in Pokeno crash

05 Jul 08:16 AM
'Very sad and tragic': Baby found critically hurt at house dies, homicide probe launched

'Very sad and tragic': Baby found critically hurt at house dies, homicide probe launched

05 Jul 06:33 AM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP