Waikato 'vigilante' assault: Jury begins deliberations

A jury has begun deciding whether Elisha Jack Cramond, 26, and Michael Sam Torrington, 28, are responsible for an assault which left a man blind in one eye. Photo / File

A jury has begun deciding whether two men are responsible for an assault which left a man blind in one eye.

Elisha Jack Cramond, 26, and Michael Sam Torrington, 28 have been on trial in the Hamilton District Court more than a week in relation to the alleged assault at Torrington's Kerepehi property in August last year.

The pair jointly face a charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Cramond pleaded not guilty to further charges of assault with a vehicle as a weapon, threatening to kill and attempting to prevent the course of justice, along with a charge of injuring with intent to injure a second victim who is the first victim's partner.

A charge of sexual violation was earlier dismissed.

They're accused of kicking him repeatedly to the head, strangulation, and shoving gravel and mud in his face and eyes.

Torrington is accused of biting the complainant's finger so hard that he has been left with little feeling in the tip.

The alleged victim suffered a fractured nose and lost the sight in his right eye.

Judge Kim Saunders summed up the case for the 11-person jury today, describing it as a crown case of "drunken jealousy vigilante behaviour over domestic violence".

It was the crown's case that the pair were enamoured by the complainant's partner who talked to them about domestic violence handed down to her by her partner.

Cramond was said to have become enraged and confronted the man and began the attack.

Crown prosecutor Heidi Wrigley submitted Cramond and the complainant became involved in a brawl in the lounge of the home before Torrington got involved.

It was then the man realised he was outnumbered and managed to escape, fleeing across the farm property.

It's alleged he was first chased down by Cramond in a vehicle and followed shortly after by Torrington. It's then that the assault of repeated kicks to the head took place, and mud and gravel were shoved in his face.

The man's partner was there and it's alleged Cramond shoved her face in a shallow pool of water, making it hard for her to breathe.

Defence counsel Ann-Marie Beveridge said his client accepted throwing a few punches but was not involved in the assault that resulted in the loss of sight.

Martin Hine, for Torrington, said his client was not involved in any assault and that it was the complainant's partner who told him to intervene.

He could also only be heard talking in the background of the 111 call after four minutes.

The judge said to find the pair guilty they had to be confident the accused had formed a common intention to assault the man. They pair were effectively being tried independently as principal offenders so they had to look at the evidence for each of them individually.

The judge said they could dismiss what they wanted of either the crown or defence arguments.

As for the witnesses, she said it was up to them to determine their credibility and reliability.

Alcohol could play a factor in any witness' recall of events, while some people are often simply mistaken.

The jury, of three women and eight men, began their deliberations at 11.55am.