Britons in NZ 'sex attack ordeal'

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A man has been charged with the sexual assault of two British women on holiday in New Zealand, police have said.

The women, in their late teens, were in their campervan parked in Tokomaru Bay on the north-east coast of North Island when a man broke in on Friday.

Detectives say the intruder subjected the women to a two-hour attack.

A 29-year-old local man later handed himself into police and was charged with three counts of sexual violation and two of kidnap, police said.

The incident happened in the early hours after the women had returned from a nearby bar.

Det Sgt Kevin Ford, of Gisborne police, said that after the man broke in, the women tried to prevent the attack by talking to him about themselves and their families.

'Horrible ordeal'

"They did all the right things in terms of trying to personalise the situation by talking to him about who they were and who he was," he said.

But he said the man had overpowered them and subjected them to a series of sexual assaults over two hours before leaving the campervan.

He added: "It was a horrible ordeal that these two girls went through, not only because of what happened but also due to the prolonged nature of the attack."

The women told New Zealand's TV3 television channel, that despite their ordeal they were determined to continue their holiday.

One said: "He is not going to spoil it for us. He'd be winning."