Reporter’s Diary

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33778, 26 February 1975, Page 3

Reporter’s Diary

Cartridge hunt

BELIEVERS in the innocence of Arthur Allan Thomas (twice convicted of the murder of David and Jeanette Crewe at Pukekawa in 1970) have by no means given up their attempts to secure his release from gaol. They are advertising throughout the country for more funds ” to “establish the truth without doubt,” and the consulting chemist, Dr T. J. Sprott, is collecting old .22 cartridges from all over New Zealand to strengthen his contention that the bullets that killed the Crewes could not have come from the cartridge case which the police say they found on the Crewe property. Dr Sprott said yesterday that between

5000 and 7000 bullets had already been offered to him and to. depots in the main centres. When he had sorted them the results would be presented to the Minister of Justice (Dr Finlay) and the Prime Minister (Mr Rowling) “to show that the facts don’t support the Court of Appeal’s decision.” Needless to say. Dr Sprott is convinced that no cartridges will come in which conform to the description of the one the police say they found. Dr Sprott said the appeal committee would also seek legal advice from an eminent London jurist and Queen’s Counsel on the question of taking the case to the Privy Council. It would be necessary to seek leave from the New Zealand Court" of Appeal first. “This is the biggest challenge of a forensic nature ever made against the Crown in New Zealand,” said Dr Sprott. “When finally the truth comes out, it will go down in

history as a major scandal.” Vigilant citizen MR W. SCOTT, district manager of the Government Tourist Bureau, expressed admiration yesterday for the vigilance of the reader who spotted the out-of-date picture of Cathedral Square in the bureau's travel brochure. “The city of Christchurch is in good hands,” he said. The reason for the inclusion of the picture (first selected in August, 1971) was that the decision to reprint the brochure was made in October or November of 1973, when the changes to the Square had not been done. Printing took such a long time that the matter was beyond the bureau’s control, Mr Scott said. Human error NIGHT after night, the N.Z.B.C. loses the sound, or the picture, or both — usually on its network television programmes orig-

inating from Wellington — and the viewers are left watching either blank screens or talking heads that appear to be gasping underwater. “We apologise for the loss of sound on that programme,” says the announcer politely — but there ’is hardly ever an explanation. Mr Colin Scarf, acting regional engineer in Christchurch, says the usual reason is that sound is frequently on a separate piece of tape or film and someone has not pushed the right button. Even where the sound is on the same strip as the film, it goes through a separate circuit, and if someone fails to turn up the volume knob, nothing is heard. “They, often seem to get confused over which knob to turn or which button to twist,” said Mr Scarf. “Perhaps under the new system things will be better. Wellington is working in very old studios, and when they move to Avalon next month there will be less reason for these things to occur.” Occasionally, he added, there were also equipment faults.