When she realised she was “conversing with … her rapist” she felt sick and blocked him, according to court documents.
Details of Edri’s offending against the woman are contained in court documents which show that he failed to get his rape conviction overturned, but succeeded in having a lengthy jail term reduced.
Edri was found guilty by an Auckland jury last year of sexual violation by rape.
It happened on the night of a birthday party held by a group of flatmates at which Edri was also present.
Edri and the woman did not know each other before that night.
They had all consumed a lot of alcohol, apart from one flatmate, who had arrived back at the flat later than the others.
The victim had drunk so much that she was falling asleep, to the point that one of the flatmates described her as “gone”.
She was slumped over, mumbling and described to be “on the verge of passing out”.
The flatmates helped the woman to her bedroom upstairs and put her under the covers on her bed, still fully clothed.
Her female flatmates removed her earrings for her because she was unable to do it herself.
The woman awoke the next day, naked in the bed, groggy, with pain in her genital area and minor rectal bleeding. She noticed a stain on the sheets.
Edri came into her bedroom and offered her a cup of tea, which she declined.
The woman continued drinking that day, a Saturday, during which she video-called a friend overseas and exchanged messages with Edri on social media.
At that time, she had not pieced together what had happened to her the night before, the court documents said.
However, as she sobered up, she “came to the realisation on the Sunday that something had been done to her and that something was likely to be by Mr Edri”.
She blocked Edri on social media and later spoke to her flatmate, who told her that she had been put to bed in her clothes.
The flatmate also told her that Edri had “gone missing” for a period of time after that.
The woman then went to a doctor to get herself examined and reported the incident to the police, to whom she turned over the texts and messages she had shared with Edri.
A vaginal swab found traces of Edri’s DNA.
Edri’s defence at trial was that the messages represented genuine interest between the two and were consistent with consensual sexual activity.
His lawyers said they also demonstrated that Edri did not consider that he had done anything wrong.
The defence case was that the complainant and the appellant had flirted earlier in the evening.
After the woman had been put to bed, Edri went to the upstairs toilet to vomit, where the woman came and asked him if he was all right and led him into the nearby bedroom.
However, the jury found the rape charge proven and Edri, who had a previous conviction for a sexual offence in 2008, was convicted and sentenced to eight years and three months in prison.
Edri appealed both the conviction and sentence to the Court of Appeal, arguing that the trial judge had given an “unbalanced” summing up.
The Court of Appeal found against him on that score, but determined his sentence was too severe and reduced it to six years and 10 months.
Edri then applied for leave to appeal the conviction to the Supreme Court, but was turned down.
Edri sent to jail for 2008 rape
A court judgment from 2013 reveals that Edri was previously sent to prison for the rape and sexual assault of another young woman, in 2008, when they were both 17.
Edri was a friend of that victim’s then boyfriend and the offending occurred after an evening in which she and Edri had watched television together and smoked cannabis at her flat.
The victim was taking a range of prescription medicines, including for insomnia, and fell asleep on a bed in the living area of the flat.
Some time later she woke up because she felt someone touching her.
She initially thought it was her boyfriend and curled her body away. The touching stopped and she went back to sleep.
A short time later she felt her pants being taken off. She tried to open her eyes and move away but could not because of the medication.
Edri was found guilty of raping her after a jury trial and was sentenced to four and a half years in prison, which was reduced by six months on appeal.
Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of frontline experience as a probation officer.
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