Leading entertainer trial: Rotorua jury hears accused kept cocaine, P ‘convenient’

A major entertainment figure would “conveniently” carry drugs including cocaine and methamphetamine to share with his associates, a High Court jury has heard.

“[Meth] Will make us work longer and harder,” one woman told a jury today.

Over a period of time, the man gave her meth “often, almost every weekend,” the woman said.

“He would have drugs with him, whether it was cocaine or methamphetamine.”

The woman is the latest witness in a six-week trial in Rotorua High Court where the man faces 25 charges related to nine women. The charges involved allegations of rape, sexual assault and drug-related crimes.

Officials allege the accused administered illegal drugs to some of the women before sexually assaulting them.

This is the case of Crown, who used his position in the entertainment industry to get what he wanted from women despite being married.

The defense called the case a “MeToo feast” and said that while the man admitted to using drugs and having sex with other women, it was the nature of the industry and everyone was doing it.

Lawyer Ron Mansfield KC said his client was popular and he didn’t need to supply women with drugs and alcohol to have sex with him.

Some details of the case and the names of those involved could not be reported because the names of the defendants will be temporarily suppressed until at least the trial is over.

Questioned by crown prosecutor Anna Pollett, the woman said she and the man were on a business trip when she became “unwell” because he had booked a room for them to share.

“I thought we were going to bed and when I got up I would go straight back to … my family.”

She said she woke up in the middle of the night to find the man in bed.

“He would come up behind me and basically spoon me over,” she said.

“[I told him to] go out. He heard it for the first time. “

Later that night, the woman said she woke up to find the man in her bed again.

“That one time I was terrified. I just let him lie there and hold me.”

After the incident, the woman said the man began to “spoil” her with expensive gifts and “big meals”.

“He bought me a pair of expensive shoes.”

A few months later, the two began dating.

“I think it’s more of a title for it,” the woman said.

“It’s something he’s been pushing for. It’s something I think he’s fantasizing about. [about] There are wives and girlfriends. “

The woman said her relationship with the man was never “stable”.

“We had multiple breaks. At the end of the day, it was an affair.”

On one occasion, after she “hooked up” with another man, the woman said the defendant locked her in her home.

“I’m not leaving until he gets the answers he needs.”

The woman told the jury the man organized to send her children out of school “because he hadn’t finished” the conversation with her.

“He said we were going to smoke [P] And then there, we’re going to talk about it.

She said she didn’t know how many P’s she smoked that day. The man brought a gram of the drug to her home.

On another occasion, the woman said the man “slid” a pill into her mouth.

“I’m pretty sure it’s ecstasy-based or speed-based. That’s a rock.”

The drug worked within 10 minutes, the woman said.

“It blew my socks off. I just wanted to go swimming. I was out the door. I couldn’t help myself.”

The woman will continue to testify tomorrow, when she will also be cross-examined by lawyers appearing for the accused.

The trial before Judge Ryan Harvey and a jury of nine women and three men is in its fifth week, with at least six weeks to wait.

Mariana Garcia is a regional reporter writing for the Rotorua Daily Post and the Bay of Plenty Times.