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Newcastle Herald
Newcastle Herald
National
Sam Rigney

Kyna McAuley denies detaining, torturing woman in back shed at Mount Hutton

Kyna McAuley is on trial accused of detaining and assaulting a woman at Mount Hutton in May, 2021.

KYNA McAuley, accused of kidnapping and torturing a woman at Mount Hutton in 2021, has admitted to punching the woman in the head in the back shed but said she then left and had no idea the woman was being detained, a jury has heard.

The woman last week gave evidence in the trial of two of her accused captors, Ms McAuley and Madden Paynter, telling the jury she was repeatedly assaulted and threatened, tied up, struck in the head with what she thought was a hammer, had her teeth knocked out, burnt with a cigarette and had boiling water poured over her head during the 24 hours she was held in the shed in Kestrel Avenue on May 5 and 6, 2021.

The woman said she was terrified she was going to be killed and wet her pants when Mr Paynter allegedly pinned her down and held out her arm while Ms McAuley started a grinder and approached "as if she was going to cut off her arm".

The prosecution case is that the kidnapping and assault stemmed from a minor car accident that the woman had while driving around the young daughter of Ms McAuley.

Ms McAuley took the stand on Friday and gave evidence about hearing about the car accident - and the fact the woman was drug affected at the time - and said she was "shocked" when the next morning she found the woman asleep inside her house.

McAuley said she woke the woman up and told her to leave, but the woman went down to the back shed to look for her shoes.

She said it was in the shed that the pair argued and Ms McAuley punched the woman in the head.

"When [the woman] didn't leave, I ended up striking her," Ms McAuley gave evidence. "We ended up having a scuffle. "She struck me too, in my face."

Ms McAuley said one of the men at the house, later jailed for his role in detaining the woman, came and separated them and Ms McAuley left the shed.

Using text messages, Facebook messages and emails, Defence barrister Russell Boyd took Ms McAuley through the rest of her day on May 5, 2021 - while the woman was being detained outside in her back shed - which included Ms McAuley getting one child ready for school, looking after another home sick, organising the imminent sale of their house, helping another family member with a court matter, cleaning the house, driving Mr Paynter to his grandmother's, selling an item on Facebook marketplace and having a family dinner.

At one point, she sent a message to a friend about the woman being held in the shed, saying: "As far as I am concerned she is dead to me. Don't ever bring her back here, she is never welcome".

"When you sent this message, did you know where [the woman] was?" Mr Boyd asked.

"No," Ms McAuley replied.

Ms McAuley also gave evidence about an incident months before the woman was detained, when the woman says Ms McAuley stabbed her in the face with a blood-filled syringe.

Ms McAuley told the jury she had found the syringe in her bathroom, confronted the woman about it before throwing the syringe towards her and telling her to leave the house.

She denied stabbing her in the face or picking up a golf club and holding it above the woman's head.

Ms McAuley also denied giving the woman a Xanax on the night she went to pick up Ms McAuley's daughter and fell asleep behind the wheel.

Ms McAuley and Mr Paynter have pleaded not guilty to a charge relating to the abduction and the trial in Newcastle District Court is focusing on what happened inside the shed on May 5 and 6, 2021, and who was present.

Ms McAuley has also pleaded not guilty to a charge in relation to the alleged syringe attack and denied a charge of influencing a witness relating to messages she sent a co-accused that the prosecution say were intended to get him to change his story.

The trial continues.

To see more stories and read today's paper download the Newcastle Herald news app here.

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