Soldier Charged With Filming Women During Sex Treated Accusations As A Joke, Court Martial Told
A soldier accused of filming women during sex without their permission laughed about the accusations when confronted about them, a court martial has heard.
Corporal Manu Smith is facing three counts of making intimate visual recordings.
He has pleaded not guilty.
A hearing at the Burnham Military Camp began this morning and is expected to take three days.
Smith has been accused of making the recordings of two civilian women, without their knowledge or consent.
He has contended he thought he had permission.
Prosecutor Flight Lieutenant Hannah O'Byrne told the court both women would say Smith recorded them without asking, and then sent the recordings via Snapchat.
Smith treated it as a joke when confronted about the recordings, O'Byrne said.
One woman complained she asked him if he had shared the images with others, which he also laughed off, O'Byrne said.
One of the women - who had name suppression - gave evidence this morning via audio-visual link.
Smith's lawyer Matthew Hague asked her about a chat group involving the woman and others who had dated Smith.
The woman joined the group after she and the solider had broken up.
She agreed the group's members did not like Smith.
Hague asked if it was true the group discussed ways to cause trouble for Smith.
The woman accepted the group had discussed it and she raised the sexual images as a way to get Smith in trouble.
She wanted him to hurt as much as he had hurt her over the course of their relationship, she said.
The woman consented to having sex with Smith, but not to him filming it, she said.
Under questioning by Hague, she accepted she had worked with others in chat group on her complaint about Smith. But she said that was only because she was not very good with words.
She denied making up the claims and said she thought if there were multiple complaints they were more likely to be believed.
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Otago Daily Times
11 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Two charges against Christchurch soldier dropped
Two of the charges against a Christchurch soldier accused of taking sexual videos without consent have been dropped. Corporal Manu Smith was facing a Court Martial on three counts of making intimate visual recordings under the Armed Forces Discipline Act. In a Court Martial, a military panel make a decision on the accused's guilt or innocence. On Tuesday morning, Justice Tom Gilbert, who was presiding over the court, advised the military panel that he had granted the defence's request to drop two of the charges. The judge said the two charges were dismissed for legal reasons, because in light of the evidence, he ruled that a properly directed panel could not reasonably convict on those charges. That afternoon, the accused Corporal Manu Smith gave evidence for the defence. Defence lawyer Timothy Leighton asked Corporal Smith why he had taken out his phone and started recording during sex with the complainant, and if the woman had known he was filming. Corporal Smith said he saw it as a way of expressing their intimacy and that she had seen that he was filming on his phone, and did nothing to indicate she wanted him to stop filming. He said the pair's relationship had been sexual from the start, and they both shared intimate sexual images with each other. Corporal Smith said the pair had talked about boundaries. "Yes, I expected the same respect from her that she did with me, in terms of sharing content with a third party or anybody outside. "...It was a circle of trust, it should have been. I don't want images of me shared with her girlfriends, nor would she want me to share intimate images of her." He said the pair had discussed filming sexual encounters, while discussing their sexual likes and dislikes, and he believed she was open to it. Corporal Smith said he believed he did have consent to record the sexual encounter which is the subject of the complaint, and he said if she had asked him to stop he would have. The prosecution's captain John Whitcombe asked Corporal Smith about the nature of his relationship with the complainant and whether she had reason to assume it was a exclusive relationship. Corporal Smith said the nature of their relationship was not discussed, but he saw it as non-exclusive and he believed she did too. Captain John Whitcombe challenged Corporal Smith's assertion that the woman had consented to the sex being filmed, asking if there was ever an express discussion about him filming on the day in question. Corporal Smith said they had talked about it in a light-hearted jovial way. "There was no black and white, no written agreement," he told the court. The defence and prosecution will give their closing addresses on Tuesday afternoon.
Otago Daily Times
11 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Two charges dropped against soldier accused of covert filming
Two of the charges against a Christchurch soldier accused of taking sexual videos without consent have been dropped. Corporal Manu Smith was facing a Court Martial on three counts of making intimate visual recordings under the Armed Forces Discipline Act. In a Court Martial, a military panel make a decision on the accused's guilt or innocence. On Tuesday morning, Justice Tom Gilbert, who was presiding over the court, advised the military panel that he had granted the defence's request to drop two of the charges. The judge said the two charges were dismissed for legal reasons, because in light of the evidence, he ruled that a properly directed panel could not reasonably convict on those charges. That afternoon, the accused Corporal Manu Smith gave evidence for the defence. Defence lawyer Timothy Leighton asked Corporal Smith why he had taken out his phone and started recording during sex with the complainant, and if the woman had known he was filming. Corporal Smith said he saw it as a way of expressing their intimacy and that she had seen that he was filming on his phone, and did nothing to indicate she wanted him to stop filming. He said the pair's relationship had been sexual from the start, and they both shared intimate sexual images with each other. Corporal Smith said the pair had talked about boundaries. "Yes, I expected the same respect from her that she did with me, in terms of sharing content with a third party or anybody outside. "...It was a circle of trust, it should have been. I don't want images of me shared with her girlfriends, nor would she want me to share intimate images of her." He said the pair had discussed filming sexual encounters, while discussing their sexual likes and dislikes, and he believed she was open to it. Corporal Smith said he believed he did have consent to record the sexual encounter which is the subject of the complaint, and he said if she had asked him to stop he would have. The prosecution's captain John Whitcombe asked Corporal Smith about the nature of his relationship with the complainant and whether she had reason to assume it was a exclusive relationship. Corporal Smith said the nature of their relationship was not discussed, but he saw it as non-exclusive and he believed she did too. Captain John Whitcombe challenged Corporal Smith's assertion that the woman had consented to the sex being filmed, asking if there was ever an express discussion about him filming on the day in question. Corporal Smith said they had talked about it in a light-hearted jovial way. "There was no black and white, no written agreement," he told the court. The defence and prosecution will give their closing addresses on Tuesday afternoon.
Scoop
a day ago
- Scoop
Soldier Charged With Filming Women During Sex Treated Accusations As A Joke, Court Martial Told
A soldier accused of filming women during sex without their permission laughed about the accusations when confronted about them, a court martial has heard. Corporal Manu Smith is facing three counts of making intimate visual recordings. He has pleaded not guilty. A hearing at the Burnham Military Camp began this morning and is expected to take three days. Smith has been accused of making the recordings of two civilian women, without their knowledge or consent. He has contended he thought he had permission. Prosecutor Flight Lieutenant Hannah O'Byrne told the court both women would say Smith recorded them without asking, and then sent the recordings via Snapchat. Smith treated it as a joke when confronted about the recordings, O'Byrne said. One woman complained she asked him if he had shared the images with others, which he also laughed off, O'Byrne said. One of the women - who had name suppression - gave evidence this morning via audio-visual link. Smith's lawyer Matthew Hague asked her about a chat group involving the woman and others who had dated Smith. The woman joined the group after she and the solider had broken up. She agreed the group's members did not like Smith. Hague asked if it was true the group discussed ways to cause trouble for Smith. The woman accepted the group had discussed it and she raised the sexual images as a way to get Smith in trouble. She wanted him to hurt as much as he had hurt her over the course of their relationship, she said. The woman consented to having sex with Smith, but not to him filming it, she said. Under questioning by Hague, she accepted she had worked with others in chat group on her complaint about Smith. But she said that was only because she was not very good with words. She denied making up the claims and said she thought if there were multiple complaints they were more likely to be believed.
