The High Court in Auckland has been told a woman was sexually violated, bashed on the head with a hammer and left for dead on a rural road.
High Court in Auckland Photo: justice.govt.nz
The Crown has outlined a tale of jealousy, drugs, prostitution and violence on a level described by a prosecutor as "unimaginable".
The Crown says a woman was threatened with death before being kidnapped twice.
On the second occasion she was sexually violated, had her arms and legs bound before being driven to a remote road north of Auckland where there was an attempt to strangle her and break her neck before she was struck in the head with a hammer.
Nicola Jones, Cameron Hakeke, Michelle Blom and Julie-Anne Torrance face charges including kidnapping, assaults using a taser and scissors and robbery.
Ms Jones, Ms Blom and Ms Torrance also face charges of sexual violation.
Wayne Blackett has admitted charges of attempted murder and assault.
The Crown prosecutor Henry Steele said the victim was found by two people, unconscious, dressed in overalls and her hair crudely cut off.
"Her head was bloodied and her face bruised. Her hands and feet were bound with cable ties. The grass around her had been flattened, flattened by her desperate movements over the course of the proceeding ten hours, through the night on the side of a dirt road, half way through the Dome Valley, her skull, having been smashed with a hammer."
Mr Steele said the victim was left for dead.
He said the attack in May came four months after Ms Jones accused the victim of sleeping with her boyfriend. In January, Ms Jones sent a threatening text message to the victim's mother saying she would kill her if she saw her.
Mr Steele said three months later a mutual friend - Cameron Hakeke - lured the victim to his West Auckland home with talk of methamphetamine.
Once inside she was ambushed.
"She's taken to the ground, as soon as she walks through the door. She's restrained and thereafter, she's tasered repeatedly. Her hair is cut off and she's eventually forced to sign over her car which contains her worldly belongings."
Two weeks later Ms Jones was with her friends Ms Blom, Ms Torrance and another Jaclyn Keats.
Mr Steele said they smoked more meth that night before pulling up off K Rd and spotting the victim again, dragging her into her car and driving out to another house in West Auckland.
"And it's there where the fun really starts, because that's what this is to them."
The woman was beaten by people armed with a cricket bat and a cricket wicket, her hand was held down and stomped on and her hair is cut again.
She was also sexually violated. The following day she was bundled into Blackett's ute, her hands and legs bound, and driven to a road north of Auckland by Ms Jones, Ms Torrance and Blackett.
"It's there, an attempt is made to strangle her and when this doesn't work, they attempt to break her neck, manually, like something out of a cheap Kung-Fu movie."
Mr Steele said a hammer was then grabbed from Blackett's ute and the woman was hit at least seven times in the skull - a CT scan shows the holes in her head.
"This was a determined and prolonged attack, intended clearly to kill - make no mistake of that ... The fact that she didn't die and the charge is only one of attempted murder is nothing short of a miracle."
Mr Steele said the woman will give evidence via closed circuit television from another court room but he asked the jury to keep in mind that she is still recovering from her brain injury and can't give every detail.
In all, the jurors are set to hear evidence from over 60 witnesses over the coming four weeks.
