'Vampire' Attack In Wellington

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'Vampire' Attack In Wellington

Postby deacongray » Mon May 17, 2010 9:36 pm

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/3 ... Wellington
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/lo ... t-Victoria

'Vampire' Attack In Wellington
The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 06/05/2010

A man was bitten by three people and had his blood drunk in an alleged vampire-type attack in the dark on Wellington's Mt Victoria.

Two men and a woman have been charged with wounding with intent to render a man unconscious in relation to the bizarre attack on February 20.

James Phillip Brooks, 22, and Xenia Gregoriana Borichevsky, 19, were at Wellington District Court yesterday.


JAMES PHILLIP BROOKS: "Do I look like a vampire? I'm out during the daytime," Brooks said outside the court.


XENIA GREGORIANA BORICHEVSKY: Borichevsky's lawyer said she had recently "got mixed up with a certain company".

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of the third accused, James Eric Orr, 19.

Brooks told The Dominion Post yesterday that all three bit the victim, but he did not draw blood. "Do I look like a vampire?

The three were jointly charged last month with wounding with intent to render a man unconscious on the night of February 20, court documents show.

The charge carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in jail.

It is understood the victim passed out after being bitten.

Cases of people biting others and drinking their blood are rare and dangerous, as a person's mouth harbours more bacteria than a cat's or dog's.

Outside the court yesterday Brooks said he, his girlfriend, a friend and the victim – who has interim name suppression – left a party and were walking over Mt Victoria when the attack happened.

He understood there was blood drinking but said: "That wasn't me.

"Do I look like a vampire? I'm out during the day time. I may look like a punk but I'm not a punk. I'm just different," he told The Dominion Post.

Brooks admitted biting the man but did not think he had punctured the flesh.

"Yeah, I bit a guy ... he hit on my missus. My girlfriend and my mate were biting him. I was angry with him, so I used it as an excuse.

"I didn't bite him to hurt him. I bit him because I was pissed off with him and he was my mate and I didn't want to hurt him.

"If I'd hit him, I'd have really hurt him, so I thought I'll bite him seeing as they're already biting him.

"[Drinking blood] wasn't my agenda, I was just angry ..."

Police would not discuss any details of the case because it is before the courts.

In court yesterday Borichevsky's bail conditions were relaxed after her lawyer, John Miller, asked the judge to lift her night-time curfew. She wanted to do activities such as attend evening dance classes and visit friends in Otaki.

Mr Miller said the teen had no previous convictions and had only recently come to New Zealand, where she had "got mixed up with a certain company".

Brooks had also been freed on bail and Orr has a warrant out for his arrest.

The three have not entered pleas and will reappear in court next month for a pre-committal evaluation hearing.

Wellington Hospital emergency medicine specialist Paul Quigley said the human mouth contained millions of bacteria, was dirtier than that of a dog or cat and both the person bitten and the biter were at high risk of catching diseases.

Someone drinking blood could become infected with hepatitis C or HIV, or other diseases their immune system was not prepared for.

"You often see it when people punch someone in the mouth and the victim's tooth goes into their knuckle.

"That wound normally gets infected."

Otago University PhD student Darnell Kennedy, who is doing her thesis on bacteria on teeth for forensic applications, said bites in which teeth touched blood were potentially fatal.

MANIFESTATION OF ANCIENT MYTH

An academic who studies evil says human teeth are not designed to pierce skin enough to drink blood.

Victoria University psychology senior lecturer Marc Wilson – who has paranormal beliefs, psychopathy, narcissism and "general evil-ness" among his listed specialties – said drinking human blood was "incredibly unusual".

Vampire culture was experiencing a renaissance at present, he said, largely due to movies and books such as Twilight and the television series True Blood, starring New Zealand actress Anna Paquin. But its popularity had come and gone in waves over "decades, if not centuries".

There were plenty of examples over time of people imitating vampires, but few took it to the extreme of drinking blood.

He said there were two types of people who might imitate vampires and drink blood – the mentally unwell or those in certain sub-cultures.

Goths – who shun dominant culture – were particularly attracted to ideas such as drinking blood because it was a "Western taboo", he said. "It's a violation of the `body envelope'."

Human teeth were not well-designed for breaking skin deeply enough to drink blood, he said. "You could do it but would [have to] really want to."

The idea of a blood-sucking ghoul has a long history in various folklores but the vampire rose to popularity in the 19th century, especially with the publication of Bram Stoker's Dracula.

They are supposedly supernatural beings that can emerge only at night, can change shape, remain eternally youthful and feed on human blood. They are also considered seductive, very sexual beings.

Dr Wilson surveyed Wellingtonians between 2004 and 2007 and found 6 per cent thought vampires might exist, but their perceptions of what vampires were varied.

For many they were a symbol of evil, he said.
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