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Rape sentencing date set
Sentencing of a man for the knife-point rape of a 22-year-old woman he encountered in the street has been set for November 7.
Wayne David Batchelor, 42, was found guilty by a jury on Thursday at the end of an eight-day trial in Christchurch District Court for the rape and sexual violation of the woman, carrying a knife, and threatening her with it.
The victim gave evidence of being raped after being forced into a driveway in St Albans at knifepoint in 2000, as she walked to work. Batchelor was identified in a DNA profile match nine years later, but he claimed in court that the DNA evidence was unreliable and the police had arrested the wrong man.
The jury took 2hr 30min to return guilty verdicts on all charges and Judge Gary MacAskill remanded Batchelor to Friday for a sentencing date to be set.
Defence counsel Lee-Lee Heah and Shannon-Leigh Litt did not put forward a bail application for Batchelor and he was remanded in custody for the sentencing.
