An 11-year-old girl jumped from a speeding car fearing that the driver who had just raped her was going to kill her, a court was told today.
An 18-year-old Canterbury man appeared in court today to admit raping a 17-year-old woman and the 11-year-old girl over a 24-hour period last month.
The two sexual assaults took place over the weekend of October 12 - 13 in Christchurch and North Canterbury.
The older victim was raped in a car near Pound Rd, at the rear of Christchurch Airport on Saturday night, October 12.
The pair, who police said were known to each other, met outside a bar before he restrained her in the passenger seat and attacked her.
She tried to fight him off, scratching his face, but he overpowered her.
The second attack came after an 11-year-old girl was abducted from a park's playground in rural North Canterbury, about 9.30am the next day.
He drove her to a remote location, threatened her with a knife, and then sexually violated and raped her, a police summary of facts says.
The girl's father later saw them driving. He stopped his vehicle and stood in the middle of the road in an attempt to get the driver to stop, but he sped off.
The girl, fearing for her life, then managed to jump out of the speeding car.
She received scratches to her face and neck, grazes to her body, arms, and legs. She also had a cut to her thumb which happened while trying to evade a knife the teenager thrust at her.
The girl was later found by members of the public on a rural road.
Meanwhile, police soon spotted the man speeding in his car.
After giving chase, the 18-year-old offender's car hit a power pole in Loburn at about 150km/h, police say.
He was apprehended and treated in hospital before being taken into police custody.
Today, family members of both the accused and a victim were in the public gallery at Christchurch District Court.
He pleaded guilty to charges of kidnapping, threatening to kill, unlawful sexual connection, and rape.
Defence counsel Elizabeth Bulger asked for an interim name suppression order to continue until he is sentenced on February 5, next year.
Judge Christopher Somerville continued the suppression order, along with the reasons for doing so.
The issue of name suppression will be fully argued when he is sentenced, the judge said, who also called for a pre-sentence report.