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Paraglider not guilty of assaulting a rival
25 February 2004

A slightly-built paragliding instructor was only defending herself when she fought two male pilots over a take-off dispute, Judge Noel Walsh found in the Queenstown District Court yesterday.


He dismissed the assault charge against Lisa Maureen Bradley, a 26-year-old tandem paragliding pilot and instructor.

Bradley appeared yesterday for a defended hearing on the charge of assaulting Kenneth John Hardman at the car park take-off area at Coronet Peak, near Queenstown, on March 12 last year.

Police prosecutor Tim Hambleton said a scuffle took place after Hardman, of Flight Park Tandems, and paraglider Ozgur Gokosan had arrived with clients. Gokosan lay his parapente out in front of one of Bradley's students.

"She (Bradley) took exception to this as she thought he was jumping the queue and (she) walked across his wing to discuss the situation with Mr Hardman," Mr Hambleton said.

Bradley gave evidence she was rugby-tackled from behind.

"I was scared, really scared," she said.

She was screaming into her radio to her partner on the landing site below for help.

"Ken came over and held me down while taking my radio off me," Bradley said.

"As I got up I was punching...I was swinging...and Ken was right in front of me."

But Hardman said he intervened after Gokosan ran at Bradley and knocked her to the ground. He had a hand on Bradley's shoulder and one on Gokosan to try and defuse the situation.

Bradley got up, stepped towards him and punched him in the mouth.

Gokosan must have "seen red" when Bradley walked over his $6000 of equipment, which could have been badly damaged, Hardman said.

There was no protocol about who went first, but if someone's wing was open you would normally wait, he said.

After hearing evidence from seven witnesses, Judge Walsh found Bradley had been acting in self-defence.

"If I put myself in the defendant's shoes, a 26-year-old woman of slightish build, rugby-tackled to the ground by a Turkish male in his 30s, virtually a stranger, of strong stocky build...and then pinned to the ground," Judge Walsh said.

Judge Walsh rejected any suggestion that Bradley had punched Hardman in retaliation.

Her perception was that Hardman was "acting in unison" with Gokosan to assault her. She had been on the ground, she was very scared and in shock, with two males on to her, the judge said.

Both Hardman and Gokosan were convicted of assault when they appeared in the Queenstown District Court on April 15 last year in relation to the incident.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2825106a11,00.html