Court hears Philip Lyle Hansen, of Wellington, told girlfriend he liked ‘gummy women’ and once is alleged to have used a screwdriver to remove teeth

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

A Wellington man accused of pulling out women’s teeth told a girlfriend he liked “gummy women” and said she was more beautiful when she was not wearing her dentures, his trial has been told.



Philip Lyle Hansen, 56, has pleaded not guilty to 11 charges, including unlawful sexual connection and charges of wounding with intent to injure four women.



It is alleged Hansen extracted the women’s teeth with pliers and attempted to remove the teeth of one with a screwdriver.



On Thursday a third woman testified at his Wellington district court trial about her relationship with Hansen. The woman – who cannot be named for legal reasons – said she had met Hansen online in 2009.

Their relationship developed quickly and Hansen told her he wanted to marry her, the woman said. During one conversation the topic of her teeth came up.

“He asked me if I had false teeth,” she told the court.



“I said, ‘Yes, was that a problem?’ ”



The woman said Hansen reassured her that it was not.



“He said he liked gummy women and that he’d rather I didn’t have teeth, that I was far more beautiful without them,” she said.



The woman was relieved at the time because she had trouble keeping her dentures in her mouth and preferred eating without them.



Earlier on Thursday the second woman to testify against Hansen finished giving evidence. This woman, who also has had her name suppressed, said Hansen pulled four of her teeth out with pliers when they were in a relationship.

Under cross-examination by his defence lawyer, Mike Antunovic, she denied she had made up the allegations and denied she had threatened to “destroy” Hansen after they broke up.



When she was re-examined by the crown prosecutor, Sally Carter, the woman also said she did not consent to him pulling her teeth out.



“I asked him to stop. Apart from that and wriggling around, there was nothing I could do,” she said.



The woman testified Hansen dominated her and she had been scared of him.



She said Hansen could go from being docile to “flying into a terrific rage”.



The first woman to testify against Hansen said that in the early 1990s he pulled out six of her bottom teeth with pliers and an oily rag when they had moved to the back seat of his car to have sex.



The trial continues.