An ex-government employee is accused of psychologically abusing his ex-girlfriend after she ended their two-year relationship.
The defendant, aged in his 40s, is on trial before the Dunedin District Court on two counts of breaching a protection order.
His name remains suppressed.
The woman told the court she had started seeing the married man in 2021 but ended the relationship in March 2023.
"I was apologetic but I didn’t want to continue the relationship. I was done," she said.
"He just continued to message me, asking for explanations why, and trying to manipulate me back into continuing things on."
The complainant said there were several months of unwanted contact which resulted in two police safety orders being issued in her favour and, finally, a protection order in September 2023.
The following month, the woman described going to St Clair’s Long Dog Cafe with her mother and seeing the defendant’s vehicle arrive.
She said the man walked towards the venue and gave her a "piercing look" for up to four seconds before turning around and leaving.
In cross-examination, Anne Stevens KC suggested her client was wearing sunglasses at the time so there could have been no such intimidation as the woman would not have seen his eyes.
The witness denied that was the case but accepted the defendant did not speak or gesture to her.
Mrs Stevens said the complainant knew the man frequented that cafe and had gone there specifically to see him, having been told he had visited there earlier in the day.
The witness said that was untrue.
The complainant told the court much of the contact she had with her ex-partner in 2023 was motivated by fear.
But Mrs Stevens referenced a slew of cellphone messages which came in April 2023, a month after the pair had separated.
"I want a f...... house with you, make little babies’ room up all nice, like we could be all excited about it and you could take care of me," the woman said in a message.
"I still love you," she added — in one of more than 50 messages that day.
The complainant explained she was trying to placate the man to protect herself.
"I suggest that’s got to be nonsense," Mrs Stevens said.
"Saying you want to buy a house with them and still love them is not keeping them at bay. It’s keeping them under control; it’s keeping them close."
The woman disagreed that was her intention.
Prosecutor Mike Brownlie asked the complainant to clarify why she continued to engage with her ex after their break-up.
"I was trying to manage [his] expectations and behaviour. I didn’t want to upset him. He made me feel like I’d basically ruined his life and I felt bad," she said.
"I was fearful if I didn’t do what [he] wanted ... what would happen. He hadn’t shown any signs of giving up. I began to feel at that point there was no getting away from him."
The second alleged breach of the protection order took place in January 2024.
The court heard the complainant was sitting outside another St Clair cafe, when the man drove past.
She said the defendant gave her an "intimidating look" but, in a statement, her friend said he had been wearing sunglasses at the time.
Later the same day, the man ran past her and subsequently went surfing in the same vicinity.
"I was scared. I remember thinking I had seen him prior to [going for a] walk and he was there again," the complainant said.
"It was weird he was still in the area after having seen me there."
The woman told the court she was surfing when she saw the defendant 50-100m away, prompting a panic attack.
Mrs Stevens said her client had not seen his ex-girlfriend in the water and was unaware she surfed there.
The complainant accepted there had never been violence or threats of harm made by the defendant.
The trial, before Judge Hermann Retzlaff, is scheduled to end tomorrow.
rob.kidd@odt.co.nz , Court reporter
