Man not guilty of trying to murder pregnant woman

A High Court jury has found a Wellington man not guilty of attempting to kill his former partner while she was pregnant with triplets.

But Paul Campbell, 29, was found guilty of two counts of injuring with intent and one of assault.

At the High Court in Wellington, jurors deliberated for about 10 hours before finding Campbell not guilty of attempting to murder Celia O'Donoghue, 24.

He was also found not guilty of an alternative charge of disabling her by rendering her unconscious, as well as not guilty of wounding, assault with intent to injure and a less serious alternative of assaulting a female of five counts of assault.

Campbell is in custody and will be sentenced on July 26.

Justice Jillian Mallon ordered a retrial on a second wounding charge on which the jury could not agree.

The prosecution claimed he attacked Ms O'Donoghue while she was heavily pregnant with triplets, strangling her twice until she passed out. He also hit her several times, bruising her lower back and giving her a black eye.

Ms O'Donoghue's father, prominent Wellington crown prosecutor Mark O'Donoghue, was one of the crown witnesses in the week-long trial.

Campbell's defence was that the alleged incidents did not happen. Yesterday he told the court he got angry at a party and pushed Ms O'Donoghue against the side of a van, then punched the van. None of the other alleged assaults happened and witnesses were mistaken, he said.

Ms O'Donoghue had the triplets in September 2003, separated from Campbell, and laid a complaint with police in March 2005.

Edited by Lissy

OMGosh I never even heard the story. TERRIBLE!!!!!

omg that's just disgusting

I would say that is what happens when you wait 2 years to lay an assault complaint - so much harder to prove 2 years after the fact. You need to do it when the injuries are there so there is evidnce. Sad, but true.

Truely sad :S