Defendant denies making up story

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 5, Issue 23, 3 November 1987, Page 12

Defendant denies making up story

The following defended cases were heard by Judge E.W. Unwin in the Ohakune District Court on Thursday 22 November. Detective Sergeant Harry Mallalieu of Taihape appeared for the police prosecution. ★★★ Peter Arthur PhilIips, 23, unemployed of Raetihi appeared to defend three charges to which he had pleaded not guilty at the August sitting of the Ohakune District Court. Defendant had been charged with possession of cannabis, wilfully obstructing a police constable in the execution of his duty, and receiving a .22 Marlin semi-automatic rifle valued at $450 knowing it to have been stolen or dishonestly obtained. The first prosecution witness was Kenneth Neil Grimes of Wanganui who gave evidence that the .22 Marlin rifle produced in Court as exhibit 'A' belonged to him. He testified that on 22 February this year he had parked his Nissan Datsun coupe in Raetihi where it had been broken into sometime between 5 and 8pm that evening. The rifle, a duffle bag containing his hunting clothes and half-a-dozen beer had been taken from the vehicle. He reported the theft to police in Raetihi. Witness said that he knew defendant prior to this in-

cident in February and had spoken with him twice since then. On the first occasion defendant told him that he would try to get his (witness') rifle back and on the second occasion defendant had told him that he had bought the rifle from someone in National Park. Under cross examination witness said that he had not asked for the return of the rifle from defendant because, by that time, the police had already confiscated it and it was in their possession. Constable Wayne Mills of Taihape was the next prosecution witness. He told the Court that while serving as a relieving constable at Raetihi in June he was one of a number of police who executed a search warrant at an address in Duncan Street, Raetihi. As witness entered the lounge defendant was seen to run from the lounge, up a passageway and into a bedroom. Witness followed and after informing defendant about the warrant to search for drugs and stolen property he commenced searching the defendant who was seen to take a small plastic bag from his briefs and put it to his mouth. A scuffle developed when witness attempted to stop defendant swallowing the bag and it was only when another constable came to his assistance that he was able to handcuff the defendant and take possession

" of the plastic bag. The plastic bag, which was produced in Court as exhibit 'B', was later sent to the DSIR for analysis and found to contain cannabis. A small cannabis 'bullet' and several pieces of tin-foil were also found in the defendant's bedroom. During the search of the remainder of the premises witness said that he found a .22 rifle in a motor vehicle in a garage on the property and, after checking its serial number with the list of firearms reported missing, took possession of the rifle. Witness identified both exhibits 'A' and 'B' as the rifle and plastic bag in question. Later when he interviewed defendant at the Ohakune Police Station witness said that defendant had told him he had purchased the rifle from someone in National Park for $350 and was going to return it to its owner (the first witness). He was unable to identify the person in National Park from whom he had bought the rifle. Under cross examination witness denied that defendant had been trying to swallow a ring or a watch and chain rather than the plastic bag containing cannabis. The defendant was then called to the witness stand to give evidence. He told the Court that he had recovered the rifle for the owner when he bought it from 'a guy in National Park for $500' and was go-

ing to return it to the owner. He later found out that "two of his mates" had taken the rifle from the owner's car in February. He said he had hidden the gun in Pipiriki for "a couple of months" because he wanted to give it to someone with a firearms licence. As far as the search warrant which was executed on the Duncan Street address in June was concerned, defendant said that he was told the warrant was to search for stolen jewellery and, having found the watch, chain and fastening clip on the driveway the previous day, he had tried to swallow it. He denied trying to swallow the plastic bag of cannabis. He also denied, under cross examination, that he was making his story up as he went along. In his summing up Judge Unwin said that there had been a great deal of contradiction and inconsistency throughout defendant's testimony. "It lacked credibility ... in fact it was incredible and I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that defendant was in possession of the bag of cannabis and was guilty of receiving the rifle knowing it to have been stolen or dishonestly obtained." Defendant was convicted on all three charges and remanded on bail to appear in the Ohakune District Court on 26/11 for a probation officer's report and sentence. Counsel: P.

Brown. ★★★ Ashley Darren Webb, 21, unemployed of Raetihi, appeared to defend a charge of stealing a car seat, gauges and radiator valued at $760 on or about 1 March. He had pleaded not guilty to this charge at the September sitting of the Ohakune District Court. The first prosecution witness was Gary Tansley, mechanic of Ohakune, who gave evidence that since November last year he had stored a number of vehicles in various stages of repair on a property in Tawhero Road, Ohakune. These vehicles, which belonged to a number of different clients, included a Datsun 240 KGL, a Holden HE, a Zephyr and a Landrover. They were 'stored' about "30 yards" from the road on a section with a double gate and shed. Witness testified that over a period of time a number of items had gone missing from these vehicles. He said that he had not reported these missing items to the police as felt, being in the trade, he was able to make his own enquiries and investigations. As a result of his "touring around" he saw the seats from the Datsun 240 KGL installed in a Holden motor vehicle parked near Raetihi. He reported this to the police in Ohakune. He was later offered the gauges which had been taken from the Datsun. The second prosecution witness was police constable John Fraser of Ohakune

who said, acting on information received, he had interviewed defendant about the missing property. Defendant told witness that a workmate had said that for $100 he could help himself to a set of car seats and a radiator from a section in Tawhero Road, Ohakune. When this statement was challenged by witness defendant had admitted to stealing the seats and radiator. Defendant did not give evidence in Court. Judge Unwin, in his summing up, said that he had to determine if defendant honestly believed the vehicles were abandoned based on reasonable grounds. He said that despite the fact that the vehicles were in various states of repair and were stored in a rural part of Ohakune on an untidy area not unlike a wrecker's yard he found the charge, based on the evidence he had heard, had been established. Defendant was remanded on bail to appear in the Ohakune District Court on 26 November for a community sentence and periodic detention assessment report. Counsel: D.G. Harvey.