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John Broeren
.
Rape of a Dargaville woman in March 2008
.
none known
Born 1965
Prison
Sentenced to nine years in July 2009
Unsuccessfully appealed the conviction in March 2010
Background
Northern Advocate (Whangarei), July 9th 2009
Two friends convicted of raping a woman treated her "no better than a dog", a district court judge said before sentencing the pair to lengthy jail terms.
Whangarei District Court Judge John McDonald said the victim was treated in the most degrading way before, during and after being raped at an isolated Dargaville farmhouse in March last year. The two men connected to the crimes, Lance Hall and John Broeren, appeared for sentencing yesterday after they were found guilty by a jury on May 8 this year.
Hall was jailed for 12 years on charges of rape, being a party to rape, male assaults female and threatening to cause grievous bodily harm. He will be eligible for parole after serving six years. Broeren received nine years' jail on a charge of rape.
Judge McDonald said the victim had gone to get $20 Hall owed her and some tobacco from his home.At about 11pm, Hall suggested they go out and pick up cannabis before driving her to Broeren's farmhouse where drinks were consumed. While sitting on the steps outside Broeren's house, Hall grabbed her by the hair dragged her inside and dumped her on to a mattress. The victim asked to go to the toilet after which she came out and sat on the steps.
Hall then grabbed her by the hair, tipped a bucket of water over her before taking her back on to the mattress. "You treated her no better than one would treat a dog," the judge said. He said Broeren then raped her followed by Hall who threatened her, saying: "I could stab you and no one would know. Your rich daddy can't help you." She was further assaulted by Hall on their way back to Dargaville.
Crown prosecutor Bernadette O'Connor submitted a prison term of between 11 and 12 years for Hall and nine to 10 years for Broeren. She said the aggravating factors were violence, extent of injury and the degrading treatment the victim suffered at the hands of the two men.
Hall's lawyer, Arthur Fairley, said there was nothing to suggest his client had a problem with sexual offending and that he was a man of some intelligence.Broeren's lawyer, John Watson, said it appeared alcohol was a dominant factor behind the offending that night. Judge McDonald said there was no way out for the victim who was threatened with a kitchen knife by Hall to have sex with his friend.
"This wasn't a spur of the moment attack on her. She was treated in the most degrading way and her rights as a female were violated," Judge McDonald said. He said references submitted on behalf of Broeren described him as gentle, courteous and "a man of the land". Hall, he said, continued to downplay and minimise his involvement in the attack and his motivation to change was assessed as low.
Northern Advocate (Whangarei), 11th May 2009
Two men have been found guilty of raping a woman during a drinking session. Jurors on Friday found Lance Hall and John Broeren guilty on five counts after a week-long trial in the Whangarei District Court.
Hall, 36, was charged with rape, being a party to rape, male assaults female and threatening to cause grievous bodily harm. He pleaded guilty to two assault charges before the start of trial. Broeren, 43, was charged with rape.
Hall and Broeren claimed the woman involved had been sexually provocative towards men during the drinking session and had had consensual sex with Broeren. The victim said Hall had grabbed her by the hair, dumped her on a mattress before both men took turns raping her.
In her closing address, Crown prosecutor Bernadette O'Connor said the complainant's version of events could be relied upon because her police statement and her evidence in court had been consistent. On the other hand, she said, Hall had kept changing his evidence, especially on who had been at a party when he and the complainant had arrived. Ms O'Connor said Hall had tried to portray an intimate and loving relationship with the complainant but had also referred to her as mentally unstable and a spoilt little girl.
The doctor who examined the woman's injuries, especially in well-protected areas such as inside her thighs and arms, had concluded they were not likely to have been accidental or self-inflicted, she said. Hall's lawyer Arthur Fairley urged jurors to ask themselves how plausible it was for his client to have suddenly grabbed the complainant's hair, dragged her inside the house, then raped and tipped a bucket of water on her.
Mr Fairley said a woman at the party had ended her two-year relationship with her partner after having seen him flirting with the complainant. He said there was no conclusive evidence the injuries the complainant sustained were the result of rape.
Broeren's lawyer John Watson said his client had had consensual sex with the complainant that had turned ugly when Hall woke up. Judge John McDonald told the jurors that they had to be sure the two men raped the complainant before returning a guilty verdict.
Rape was not sexual intercourse by force but sex without consent, he explained. Hall and Broeren have been remanded in custody for sentencing at a later date.
Northern Advocate (Whangarei), 8th May 2009
The fate of two men on trial for allegedly raping a woman during a drinking party is expected to be known today. Lance Hall, 36, is charged with rape, being a party to rape, male assaults female and threatening to cause grievous bodily harm. He pleaded guilty to two assault charges before the trial started in the Whangarei District Court on Monday.
His friend John Broeren, 43, is charged with rape. In his evidence yesterday, Mr Broeren said the complainant stripped during a drinking party at his home in March 2008 before having consensual sex with him. He said the complainant lifted her top after Hall said to him: "Look Johnny, I've got a blonde" and that she wasn't forced into sex later that night.
Broeren said she grabbed his groin a couple of times while dancing and performed oral sex on him before they had sexual intercourse. Broeren said while he and the woman were still having sex, Hall - who was sleeping on a couch - woke up and became angry. Hall had grabbed the complainant by the hair and dragged her outside. He had then verbally abused her.
He had told Broeren when he had tried to intervene to go inside or he "would punch him". Broeren's lawyer John Watson said his client had reasonable grounds to believe the complainant consented to sex.
He earlier told the jury even though Broeren had elected to give evidence, he did not have to prove anything because the onus of proving the case rested with the Crown. In his evidence on Thursday, Hall said he had been in a sexual relationship with the complainant before the alleged incident. The jury will hear closing submissions today.
Northern Advocate (Whangarei), 6th May 2009
A man dragged a woman outside after he saw her having consensual sex with his friend, a District Court jury has heard. Lance Hall, 36, is on trial in the Whangarei District Court charged with rape, being a party to rape, male assaults female and threatening to cause grievous bodily harm. He pleaded guilty to two assault charges before the trial started in Whangarei District Court. His friend John Broeren, 43, is charged with rape.
The complainant has told the court that she was dragged by her hair on to a mattress during a drinking session at Broeren's home in March 2008 and raped by Broeren and then Hall. She said she had been drinking before arriving at Broeren's house, but denied being sexually provocative.
Yesterday, the woman told Hall's lawyer Arthur Fairley that she and Hall lay on a bed and kissed in February 2008 but did not have sex. She admitted that in early March, they ate at a local boating club. In his police statement, Hall had said he awoke and saw the complainant having sex with Broeren.
Hall then got angry and dragged the woman outside before tipping a bucket of water on her, Mr Fairley said. Hall also told police the woman reached provocatively towards him, he said. "I put it to you that you had sex with Johnny (Broeren) and Mr Hall pulled you by the hair," Mr Fairley said.
The complainant replied she did not have consensual sex with Broeren. Broeren's lawyer John Watson asked the woman whether her top was pulled up as Hall said to Broeren, "look Johnny, I've got a blonde". She said she could not remember Hall saying those words to Broeren. Mr Watson said evidence would be called that Hall had touched the woman as they lay on a mattress. Mr Watson said Broeren would give evidence that Broeren had danced with the woman and she had touched him provocatively.
Northern Advocate (Whangarei), 5th May 2009
A woman told a district court jury how she was dragged by the hair on to a mattress during a drinking party before two men took turns raping her. Lance Hall, 36, and John Broeren, 43 are facing charges after an incident that allegedly happened at a house in Dargaville in March, 2008. Hall is facing charges of rape, being a party to rape, male assaults female and threatening to cause grievous bodily harm.
He pleaded guilty to two assault charges before the trial started in the Whangarei District Court yesterday. Broeren is facing one charge of rape. In her evidence in court yesterday, the complainant said she and Hall went to Broeren's house for drinks on an afternoon in March, 2008. While sitting outside, she said Hall grabbed her hair from behind and dragged her around the lounge area before dropping her on to the mattress. She said she was drunk, but became more aware of what was happening after she was dragged.
Hall had then waved a kitchen knife at her, she said. She went to the toilet, but Hall grabbed the back of her neck and tipped a bucket of water on her. The complainant claimed Broeren then raped her, followed by Hall, after she took off her wet pants and top and wrapped herself in a blanket to get warm. She escaped from Hall after the car they were in after the alleged incident broke down on Hokianga Rd.
The complainant said Hall sent her text messages such as "sorry about bucket of water" and "all I wanted to do was look after you and take you home" after the alleged incident.
In her opening address, Crown prosecutor Bernadette O'Connor said when spoken to by police in April 2008, Hall denied having sex with the complainant, saying she was attention seeking and mentally unstable. She said Broeren told police he had consensual sex with the complainant. Arthur Fairley, the lawyer representing Hall, told the jury his client pleaded guilty to two assault charges because he admitted them in his police statement.
Mr Fairley said Hall saw the complainant having consensual sex with Broeren. He said Hall pulled her outside the house, poured water over her before both left the house.
