A student has told a court in New Zealand how she was left “terrified” and fought “with all my might” as the man accused of murdering Grace Millane attempted to suffocate her during oral sex.
The woman was visibly upset as she testified at Auckland High Court, Sky News reports, where she recounted the ordeal which left her fearing for her life.
“I thought, ‘this can’t be the way that I die,’” she said, and was eventually reduced to feigning unconsciousness in an attempt to make the unnamed man stop.
The trial into the death of British backpacker Millane, from Wickford, Essex, who was killed on the night before her 22nd birthday, began last week.
The court heard how Millane had been choked to death during sex with her alleged killer, who had been seen with the suitcase she was later found buried in a week after the incident on the night of December 1, 2018.
Addressing the court on Monday as the trial entered its second week, the student described how the man, whose name has been suppressed, unexpectedly knelt above her and sat on her during oral sex, leaving her barely able to breathe.
“He had grabbed my forearms and put all the pressure on my arms so I couldn’t breathe and I couldn’t move my arms,” she said according to The Guardian.
“I started kicking, trying to indicate I couldn’t breathe. I was kicking violently. He would have felt me fighting.”
She was left so helpless that she was forced to pretend to have passed out after “30 or 40 seconds”. When he eventually sat up, she claims, he reportedly asked he what was wrong.
The woman told the court: “I said, ‘what do you mean what’s wrong?’
“He said, accusing and quite cold, ‘You don’t think I did that on purpose do you?’”
Despite the terrifying ordeal, the woman admitted that she had sent the accused “hundreds” of text messages the following day, suggesting they continued their relationship.
She said she had text him “I’m willing to give this a fair shot if you are.”
After the man suggested they “leave it there”, she asked “why give up so easily?”
The pair had reportedly met on Tinder before going on one date in March 2018, eventually reconnecting in October.
The incident she described allegedly took place in early November, just a month before Millane was killed.
The woman was questioned by the defence for three hours on why she had messaged him so many times, to which she reportedly replied that she had been frightened of him and was trying stay in his favour so he wouldn’t approach her at work or whilst playing sports, The Guardian reports.
She also claimed he had told her he had connections with gangs, and had “beat up” people at bars in the past.
The court also heard from two other women who had been involved with the accused.
One woman told the court she had asked the man to choke her during sex as it was a “preference” of hers.
“It was fine, it was consensual,” she said. “It wasn’t too hard that I was gasping for air but it wasn’t so soft that I wouldn’t be able to feel it. It was the right pressure.”
She also explained that she hadn’t had to push the man away, and he had promptly released her.
The third woman said she had declined to meet up with the accused as she “didn’t feel comfortable with some of the things he wanted me to do”, and explained he had told her that he liked “feet, dominating and strangulation” because he liked feeling “superior” and “in control”.
The accused denies murder, and the trial is set to last for four weeks, concluding in early December.