Police set-up claim 'unacceptable"

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 14, Issue 682, 15 April 1997, Page 10

Police set-up claim 'unacceptable"

James Creedmore, 56, farmerof Ruatiti Valley, Raetihi, chose to conduct his own defence to ans wer three charges to which he had earlier pleaded not guilty, at last Thursday's court. On a charge of driving with an excess blood alcohol level of 162:100 (twice the legal limit) he changed his earlier plea to guilty. The other charges were that: he drove in a dangerous manner; he possessed a Class 'B' drug (cannabis oil); he possessed a Class 'C' drug (cannabis leaf). The charges arose out of an incident on Ohakune-Raetihi Road on 23 November when police stopped the truck Creedmore had been driving towards Raetihi at about 7.30pm. Police-constable Steve Hart told the court that while escorting a prisoner towards Raetihi, he observed a blue truck ahead of him being driven in an erratic manner. The vehicle had crossed the centre line on four occasions, at times being entirely on the wrong side of the road. He used his siren and flashing lights but, for about 2kms, failed to come alongside the vehicle because it continued to weave across the road at speeds of 70-80km/h. When he finally managed to come alongside he noted the dri ver was James Creedmore. He told the Court that Creedmore was incoherent when spoken to. Under cross-examination from Creedmore, Constable Hart said that, while he was aware of a letter which Creedmore had written to the local newspaper, about alleged police corruption, this had not influenced his decision to follow the truck and he had not been able to identify the dri ver until he was able to come alongside. Asked if he had been "upset" by the letter he said that, as a representative of the New Zealand Police Association, he was concerned about potential libel aspects of the letter but, as he was initially unaware of the truck dri ver' s identity, this had not influenced his decision to call for back-up. While escorting a prisoner, he was unable to process the offence through the normal procedures. The second prosecution witness, Police-consta-. ble Phillip Gilbank, said he had recently arrived in the Waimarino and knew nothing of the letter.

He said that when he arrived on the scene he conducted a breath-screening test after which Creedmore was asked to accompany Constable Gilbank to the Ohakune Police Station for evidential breath-testing. Creedmore agreed but said he needed to collect a phone card from his truck so that he could ring his daughter. It was then, according fo Constable Gilbank, that Creedmore was seen to throw "an item" into the drain. Constable Gilbank picked it up and noted it was a small tin with a plastic bag inside. He asked why Creedmore had thrown the tin away to which Creedmore replied: "what tin?" Creedmore later made a statement at the police station in which he said that he had consumed two jugs of beer after delivering a load of firewood to the Ohakune Hotel prior to being stopped by Constable Hart on the Ohakune-Raetihi road. He denied he had ever seen the tin before and denied also that he had ever used illegal drugs. Creedmore then took the witness stand. He said that while driving towards Raetihi he was aware of the police vehicle behind him for a distance of about 2km but had not seen the lights nor did he hear the siren. He said that after he stopped and was told to accompany Constable Gilbank to the police station he asked if he could retrieve his phone card from the truck and was given permission to do so. He said it was at this point he saw Constable Gilbank with a small tin in his hand and was being asked by the constable why he, Creedmore, had thrown it away. He denied doing so. Under cross-examination he acknowledged that he did have a "gripe" against the police because of some earlier experience he had had with police while "working as an undercover agent for them 20 or so years ago". He said he was being "set up" for voicing his opinion about police corruption through the newspaper. At the .end of his testimony Creedmore was asked by Judge Toomey if he intended to call any other witnesses for the defence. Creedmore said he

had wished to call two former police officers who would give evidence about police corruption in the past. Judge Toomey told Creedmore that unless the evidence related directly and specifically to the charges, such evidence was not admissible. Judge Toomey told Creedmore that the claim of being "set up"' by "planting" evidence on this occasion was not acceptable because the constable who found the tin containing cannabis oil and leaf had not been aware of who the driver of the truck was when called to the incident. Creedmore was convicted and fined $500, court costs $95 on the charge of driving in a dangerous manner, $ 1 00, court costs $95 on the excess breath alcohol charge and $100, court costs $95 on each of the drug-related charges. He was also ordered to pay a total of $184.50 in medical expenses, analyst's fees and postage. A 9-month period of disqualification was imposed. No option but jail Joseph Hohepa Beckham, 29, unemployed gar-den-worker of Ohakune, was jailed for 10 months when he appeared for sentence on two charges of driving while indefinitely disqualified, to which he had pleaded guilty last month, and also to a charge of assaulting his de-facto partner on 15 March, to which he pleaded guilty last Thursday. The charge of assault arose after the disqualified driving charges in that, when his partner refused to assist him in filling out a claim for legal aid in respect of these charges, he had become annoyed and, according to a statement made to police, "had given her a clip" on the back of her head. She had then run out of the house and had been chased by Beckham. Before passing sentence Judge Toomey told Beckham that a prison-term was inevitable in view of his persistent offences over a number of years. These included six charges of assaulting partners and five of driving while disqualified. "I have no option as you have ignored all previ-

ous sentences and opportunities so perhaps a term of imprisonment will bring home to you that you cannot continue ignoring the law". Beckham was convicted and sentenced to four months jail for one driving while disqualified offence and six months jail for the second, to be served concurrently. On the assault charge he was convicted and sentenced to four months jail to be served cumulatively making a total of 10 months. His Nissan rrtotor-vehicle was confiscated and he was disqualified for 1 2 months. Counsel: Wayne Heedegen. Consents to remand in custody Riki Martin Surton, 37, unemployed of no-fixed-abode, was to have defended 10 charges of burglary but when told that Surton' s counsel in Wanganui had said that more time was required to prepare a defence, Judge Toomey agreed to adjourn the case until 19 June providing that Surton agreed to a remand in custody until then. Surton, who had been in custody since February and arrived at the Ohakune Courthouse last Thursday in handcuffs, consented. Disqualified until October 1999 Romayne James Te Moana, 37, unemployed of Ohakune, appeared for sentence on two charges of driving and to one charge of driving with an excess breath alcohol level of 649: 1 in Porirua last year. He had pleaded guilty to all these charges last month. At last month's hearing Te Moana was warned that one of the penalty options under consideration, given that he already owed "hundreds of dollars in outstanding fines," was the confiscation of one of his motor-vehicles after ownership had been ascertained. However, Judge Toomey last Thursday told Te Moana, who is an amputee, that this would not now occur because, while he was "more concerned with the safety of the public than the convenience of the defendant, there was something unusual about the background to these matters". Te Moana' s counsel, Paul Brown, said his client Turn to Page 12

OHAKUNE DISTRICT COURT

FROM PAGE 10 was not aware that he was committing an offence because he thought that the period of disqualification applied from the date of the original offence instead of the date when the disqualification was imposed. Mr Brown said that while this was not a likely excuse, Te Moana' s assumption had been reinforced by the fact that, when he was charged with the drink-driving offence in Porirua last October, he had not also been charged with driving while disqualified. Te Moana was told that, while he would not be sent to jail on this occasion, a final waming was issued that, should he offend again, a custodial sentence was likely to be imposed. He was convicted and sentenced to 150 hours community service and disqualified for two years the date of this disqualification to take effect from the date of expiry of his current disqualification on 1 1 October 1997. "This means you will not be able to drive until October 1999" said Judge Toomey. Sentenced to supervision Henry Te Huia, 28, garden-hand of Ohakune, appeared for sentence after having pleaded guilty and been remanded in custody last month on a charge of manufacturing cannabis oil in February this year. Before sentence was passed his counsel, Wayne Heedegen, said his client disputed some details in the summary of facts presented by the prosecution at last month' s hearing. The amount of cannabis oil found at Te Huia's home was less than the 1 00ml claimed by police and the cannabis leaf found soaking in a bucket of leaching fluid to extract the oil had been weighed while it was still wet. This had produced a reading of 1.5kg and was not the dry weight normally used in evidence. Mr Heedegen said Te Huia had manufactured the cannabis oil exclusively for his own use and was not producing it in commercial quantities. He said that since being arrested and remanded in custody in February his client had become determined to stop his cannabis use and, with the help of his whanau, change his lifestyle. Accepting that Te Huia had already spent two months in custody Judge Toomey imposed a sentence of supervision for nine months during which Te Huia was to undertake drug and alcohol assesment and/or counselling and treatment as directed by his probation officer. Name suppression liffted Eric Lewis Vaughan, 19, millhand of Raetihi, had been

offered 'diversion' last month when he appeared on a charge of being "found in a public place, namely. the Ohakune/Raetihi road behaving in a manner from which it could reasonably be inferred that he was about to commit a crime" (hence there was no report in the Builetin ). However, when he declined to accept diversion and appeared last Thursday on a charge of recei ving 20 dozen cans of Tui beer valued at $278 on 7 April, he automatically lost his right to name suppression and detaifs of the earlier charge were heard. The summary of facts were that Vaughn had been seen to approach another vehicle with a petrol can and length of hose after his own vehicle had run out of petrol. When questioned he admitted that his intention was to syphon petrol from the other vehicle. In convicting and fining defendant $300, court costs $95, on the recei ving charge and $ 1 00, court costs $95, on the suspicious behaviour charge Judge Toomey told V aughan: "It is a pity you did not accept diversion because now, instead of having no conviction entered against your name, you now have two convictions." Counsel: Paul Brown. Final warning after fourth conviction William Te Hore, 42, unemployed of Raetihi, pleaded guilty to a charge of possessing cannabis leaf last Wednesday. A plastic bag containing enough cannabis leaf to make 6-7 cigarettes was found when Te Hore's vehicle was stopped near Ruatiti. It was his fourth conviction for drug offences. He was convicted and placed under supervision for eight months so that he could attend drug and alcohol counselling and treatment at the Taihape Hospital as directed by his probation officer. He was given a final waming that, unless he overcame his drug addiction, he faced a prison sentence. Counsel: Paul Brown. Advised to obtain legal advice Colin William Foster, 44, market-gardener of Ohakune, pleaded guilty to one charge of cultivating cannabis and four charges of illegal possession of weapons. The weapons charges involved: a 9mm calibre semi-automatic Ruger pistol; a .357 calibre Colt magnum revolver; a .45 calibre Webley revolver and; a .22 calibre Star 'Corto' semi-automatic pistol. WheJfhe indicated that he would be pleading guilty to all charges and would represent himself Judge Toomey advised against this saying these charges were serious enough to warrant a prison sentence and that Foster should seek legal advice before entering any pleas. Foster was remanded without plea to 14 May so that he could obtain legal advice.