A man has told a court he believes his drink was spiked by what he called a "predatory" and "utterly creepy" businessman before being indecently assaulted by him.
Photo: justice.govt.nz
The high-profile businessman, who has name suppression, is on trial at the High Court in Auckland. He is accused of indecently assaulting three men on separate occasions in the early 2000s, 2008 and 2016, which he denies.
One of the complainants, the second to take the stand, recalled being invited to a meeting at the businessman's house after he had asked for a few thousand dollars funding for a venture.
"It was an unusual discussion. I felt that immediately," the man said. He said the tone of the discussion had a notable power balance to it, where he had to convince the man that he was "worthy".
Without being asked if he wanted one, he said the accused mixed him a gin and tonic, and then later a second - with both being made with the accused's back turned to him so he could not see what went in the drinks.
He said he was told to stay longer, even though he did not really want to, but did out of politeness to the man whom he was asking to support him financially.
"'By the way, you're staying for dinner'. It wasn't a question. It was an instruction."
He said he also had a glass or two of wine with dinner, and shortly after he began feeling strange.
"I was beginning to feel dizzy, to feel nauseous, I felt like I was starting to have less control over my body. I didn't feel good. And it's not a feeling that I've ever felt since."
The man later decided he had been drugged.
He told the jury he was feeling more and more unwell as he was being given a tour of the house, which ended in the man's bedroom.
There he was shown an adjoining bedroom, which had a door directly from the businessman's bedroom, and the businessman told him 'this is where you would stay'.
He said he knew that was the time to leave.
"I was starting to feel just terrible, and also because the tone of where things were going was really uncomfortable and creeping me out. It's one of those moments that you experience in your life where every cell in your body is saying it's time to get out, it's time to go."
But as he turned and began to walk out, he said the accused came up behind him.
"[He] put his hand on my backside, and squeezed it and whispered, said in my ear 'god, you've got such a sweet arse'. I just froze, I kind of got a fright. Then he started to kiss the back of my neck."
Feeling worse and worse and now in danger, he again tried to leave, this time with more intention.
"All I wanted to do, my only motivation, was to get out and get home. Because I was afraid of what was going to happen, what could happen. I could feel I was losing the capabilities of my body and my vision, and I had this, frankly, this person with utterly creepy behaviour following me."
He said he struggled to find a phone, both due to his haze and being in a stranger's house, and was not helped at all by the accused. He eventually called a taxi, and when he got home he said he vomited and could barely talk to tell his partner what happened.
The lawyer for the businessman, David Jones QC, suggested the entire story of being drugged and assaulted was not true - it was a fiction, made up by the complainant, because he screwed up the meeting and was not successful in getting the money.
"I suggest the most that happened, as far as physical touching is concerned, is the handshake," Jones said.
"Well you weren't there and I was, and I know what happened to me and what parts of my body were touched," the man responded.
The dizziness, Jones said, was actually because he had had too much to drink.
"Do you think you might have been feeling unwell because you'd stuffed yourself with food and alcohol?" Jones said.
"I remember distinctly the feeling that I experienced ... it was something I hadn't experienced before, and I strongly, instinctively felt that my drinks were drugged," the man responded.
Jones asked if he was so sure he was drugged, why did he not go to a doctor the next day and get a blood test, which would confirm or refute the allegation. The man said he did not think to.
The complainant described that evening as a "horrible thing" and "creepy, predatory behaviour" that he wanted to move on from and did not want to relive, which would be necessary had he gone to police. He was wary it would drag on for years and he would end up in a situation just like this - in a court, being accused of lying.
"I don't make up stories of assault, and being drugged and lie to people so I can end up in a situation like this just to apparently, according to you, excuse myself of not getting five thousand dollars."
The man said he only came forward 10 years later because he had heard someone else had accused the same man of similar behaviour, and wanted to stand in solidarity with them.
The trial, before a jury and Justice Venning, continues.
