The 'homosexual panic' defence appears to have reared its ugly head in a third New Zealand murder case this year, this time in Northland. Kaikohe farm hand Craig Ross, accused of murdering his boss Robert Greene in August this year, told a Northland court on Monday he felt frustrated by his employer's homosexual advances. One of Greene's workers told the court that Greene took Ross and his two children on a trip to Australia in July. She says it was common knowledge Greene was gay, and that Ross told her that Greene used to try and force himself upon him. The killer of interior designer David McNee was earlier this year sentenced to five years jail for manslaughter after he successfully claimed 'homosexual panic', saying he lost control of himself after McNee violated him during a paid sexual encounter. In a second case of homosexual panic, 17-year-old Amsheen Ali escaped a verdict of murder in killing his uncle Colin Hart, for whom he claimed a homosexual advance was made. Ali's Muslim beliefs were taken into account at the trial as a justification for his reaction to the alleged advance.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Wednesday, 22nd December 2004 - 12:00pm