Sister tells of vicious attack

The sister of a man who police believe was beaten by a group of teenagers yesterday described a "frenzy" of punches and kicks to her brother's body and how she thought he had been killed as a result.

Michelle Aitchison was giving evidence at the Blenheim District Court on the second day of the trial of Joe Solomon Vaatuitui, 19, and Joe Stewart, 19, both of Picton, who have denied injuring Picton man Eric Aitchison with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

The two are alleged to have been part of a group which attacked Mr Aitchison, 30, when he confronted them with a baseball bat in the early hours of February 21, 2010.

Defence counsel Rob Harrison and Mike Hardy-Jones said the teenagers were acting in self-defence.

Ms Aitchison said a group of six, including Vaatuitui and Stewart, were punching and kicking her brother near the Shell petrol station in Picton.

"It was like a frenzy. I thought they were going to kill him."

Asked whether she would be able to tell who threw individual punches during the "flurry" of action, Ms Aitchison pointed to Vaatuitui and Stewart in the dock.

"They were trying to kill my brother and I saw them. Those two faces I'll never, ever forget. I see them every night when I try to get to sleep," she said.

She cried as she told the jury her brother was lying in a foetal position to protect himself.

"I told them to leave him alone. I said I would sleep with all of them if that's what it would take for them to leave him alone. I didn't know how else to protect him."

After the attack, which happened "very quickly", she described how the group quickly left the area and her brother was "on the ground in a pool of blood".

"I touched him thinking he was dead. He was bleeding, his face was a mess and he was covered in blood. There was just blood everywhere."

Earlier that night, Ms Aitchison, her brother and a friend were at Mikey's Bar in Picton when a group of boys arrived from a party at their former rugby coach's house.

Both groups stayed at the bar until it closed and Mr Aitchison had heard one of the group call his sister a "slut" and that they wanted to "gang rape" her.

Ms Aitchison overheard part of a conversation between her brother and a member of the other group in which her brother said "You and me" to which Stewart replied "No, all of us".

Her brother looked both angry and worried, she said.

Stewart's counsel Rob Harrison said the statement she made to police several days after the incident made no mention of her brother challenging the boys outside the bar.

Ms Aitchison said she should have told police and denied she made the comments up.

The jury was also shown security camera footage from the petrol station forecourt of the group of six boys at 4.19am eating pies; at 4.22am a man is seen in the top of the screen lying on the road.

They also heard a written statement from the surgeon who performed reconstructive surgery on Mr Aitchison's left eye socket, saying he had broken bones in the inner wall of his eye socket consistent with a punch or punches.

The trial continues today.

- The Marlborough Express Last updated 12:00 09/02/2011