A Lower Hutt man accused of raping and assaulting his partner had kicked and punched her because she called him a bum, Wellington District Court was told today.
The 25-year-old man is denying 18 charges including assault with a weapon, kidnapping, rape and threatening to kill.
The prosecution alleges the man assaulted his partner of eight years, threatened her with a knife and raped her in a car park during a weekend in July last year.
The accused told the court he had kicked and punched his partner in the home they shared with three children because she had called him a bum in front of other people.
He later regretted the incident, he said. "All of that because of what people thought."
The assault occurred a week before he allegedly raped his partner in a parked car in Silverstream.
The sex had been consensual and he had not threatened her with a knife, he said.
The children, two of whom were fathered by the accused, were asleep in the car when the intercourse occurred. "It's not often that you get time without the kids," he said.
His partner would have said no or left the scene if the intercourse was not consensual, he said.
The accused described a series of thefts he had taken part in during the week before the alleged rape, and told the court he had previously been convicted of assault, disorderly behaviour, breaching parole and breaching a protection order.
"I'm not a good guy you know. I'm a criminal and that. But at the end of the day, family means everything.
"I know what I am. I'm not a rapist."
Dr Neeta Haribhai, who examined the defendant's partner the day after the alleged rape, said the woman's body was covered in bruising consistent with multiple episodes of blunt force trauma.
Under cross-examination from defence lawyer Tony Rickard-Simms, Dr Haribhai said it was inconclusive whether or not the woman had been sexually assaulted.
Swabs taken from the woman contained semen identified as that of the accused.
The trial is expected to conclude tomorrow.
