Kiwi musician tells High Court they were sexually violated and ‘potentially drugged’

Warning: Sexual content and themes.

A talented New Zealand musician said a man may have drugged and sexually assaulted them at his Auckland home on a stormy night a few years ago, the court heard.

The young musician, who could not be identified by the Herald for legal reasons, had dinner at the man’s house in 2013.

“It got a little spooky, very dark,” the musician testified, recalling that “terribly stormy” night, setting the scene for jurors.

“It almost looks like Walt Disney’s haunted house.”

As the rain continued outside, the two had a glass of wine and started the evening by talking about the musician’s recent studies in North America.

The musician said the house with the crackling fire in the corner reminded him of the murder mystery board game Cluedo, while classical music played on the sound system.

However, what allegedly happened next is why the accused is now facing and denying charges of sexual assault and attempted sexual assault in Auckland High Court.

In his opening remarks on the first day of the trial, prosecutor Simon Foote QC said the defendants had temporary name bans and other court orders to protect their identities, beginning to steer the conversation towards topics of personal nature and sexuality.

The court heard the man asked the musician if anyone had “taught him or educated him sexually”.

“‘Have you had anyone teach you,’ are his words,” the musician said.

“I’m sorry, I’m not sure what your intentions are, but I’m purely friendship,” he said he told the man.

The musician said the man also put his hand on their shoulders to encourage them to relax before letting them use one of the guest rooms for the night.

The man allegedly said: “‘I have oil upstairs and I can give you a massage’.”

“At this stage, they had their third drink,” Foote said.

However, the jury was told that before retiring at night, the man suggested the pair watch some TV together, which led to the man leaning over and kissing.

Foot said the musician was shocked and didn’t know what to do at the moment, and kissed him back.

Suddenly, Foot continued, the musician felt dizzy and unwell. They later vomited twice in rapid succession in the bathroom and their vision became “blurred”.

“I think it could be a potential drug in the wine,” the musician speculated, adding that the man also offered him a glass of milky water.

“[He] Pass me a small cup, I thought it was aspirin. “

Foote claimed that during the night, the man sexually assaulted the musician and tried to do it a second time.

“[The musician] “He said he felt like a puppet or a kid,” Foote said, “like he was in a movie.”

“I didn’t feel well,” the musician recalled during his testimony. “I just lay there, basically, hoping it would stop. I didn’t want it at all.”

The next day, he woke up naked in the man’s bed.

“I could feel his eyes on me,” the musician said as he left the house after refusing breakfast. “I’m not sure if I can drive.”

When he got home, the musician said he sat in the shower and washed his mouth with soap, trying to wipe away the smell of the night.

Foote told jurors that the musician “didn’t say anything, didn’t do anything” but felt compelled to lodge a police complaint a few years later after the Herald was unable to report due to a court order.

The defendant’s lawyer, David Jones QC, told the jury in a brief opening statement that the case involved a matter of consent between his client and the musician.

“You have to have something physically happening, you have to have a guilty conscience,” Jones said, explaining the criteria for proving the royal charges.

“You have to know it’s wrong…you have to know there is no consent.”

The jury trial, presided over by Justice Mary Peters, is expected to last seven days.