A Dunedin woman lost her best friend when she went to police with concerns the woman was the subject of severe domestic violence.
"I'd rather lose my best friend than see her dead,'' she told the Dunedin District Court yesterday.
The defendant, a real estate agent aged in his 50s, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of injuring with intent to injure, one of assault with intent to injure and one of assaulting a female.
The first two days of his judge-alone trial were heard last month, and yesterday evidence concluded with the complainant's friend.
Because of a suppression order covering the defendant's name until verdict, none of the parties can be identified.
The friend told the court the complainant had become "distant and strange'' in 2017 while in a relationship with the accused.
In November, the women met up just days after the final alleged incident.
Before the meeting, the complainant made her friend "promise not to freak out'' - her face was badly bruised.
The woman said her partner had "punched her in face, yanked by hair and kneed her in ribs'', the witness said.
Another person at the house that day said the complainant was ``very swollen and bruised'' and walked with a limp.
They convinced the woman to see a doctor but she was adamant she did not want the police involved.
Her best friend ignored her wishes though and they had not spoken since.
"I lost my best friend through this, when I went to the police and let them know what he was doing,'' she told the court.
The couple said they were going to fix the issue themselves through counselling but that did not convince the friend, who said "It was way too serious.''
The first of three alleged incidents took place in Christchurch when the pair attended a family function. The woman suffered a burst eardrum following what she initially claimed were 50 slaps to the face.
A second episode allegedly involved strangulation to the point where the woman "feared for her life''.
The third happened on a drive home from a boozy barbecue. The defendant allegedly punched the woman as she drove his truck, which resulted in her driving into a hedge and leaving the scene.
Police say the violence continued at the house later but the complainant said the blows were only slaps and "It wasn't a victim-attacker situation.''
The woman, who delayed the trial more than once by failing to show up to court, said she wanted to continue a relationship with her partner.
She sat in the public gallery yesterday to support him.
Judge Michael Crosbie reserved his decision.
