The courts Oyster story rejected

Press, 12 October 1979, Page 10

The courts Oyster story rejected

A jury’ in the Supreme Court yesterday rejected a man’s story that he believed i that 42,768 oysters packed in I plastic bags in export caritons which were sold to a; Worcester Street fish shop proprietor were free "perk”; oysters belonging to a 19- ; year-old youth who worked on an oyster boat. Douglas Rangi Cowan, aged 38. unemployed, was found guilty on a charge ofreceiving 33 cartons ofoysters valued at $3777, the property of Fowler and Roderique, Ltd, of Bluff, when he knew they had been stolen. Mr Justice Casey re-; (manded Cowan in custody to; : September 18 for sentence. 1 1 Mr G. K. Panckhurst ap- - peared for the Crown, and; (Mr E. Bedo for Cowan who' j pleaded not guilty. I Opening his case, Mr J. j Panckhurst said that on the \ night of August 22 the premI ises of Fowler and Roderique. i Ltd. of Bluff, were burgled Sand 38 cartons of oysters. 1 (were stolen. Each carton con tained 108 dozen plastic bags- : of oysters. ; | ( On August 24, a fish shop I ■proprietor. of Worcester ji Street, Mr George Xypteras, j I was approached bv Cowan > and a youth named Ricky' i | Kenneth Nicholas, who J i offered to sell oysters to him. ; After negotiations he agreed i ■ to buy the oysters at 60c a I dozen'. Nicholas, who gave i ; his name as Watkinson. : <

- asked if the oysters could be delivered to the rear of the I shop but that was not possible. Nicholas said that they wanted cash or a cash cheque but he refused. Mr (Xypteras wrote out a cheque (for $2138 payable to the name of Watkinson. The fish shop proprietor's suspicions were aroused when he was told the number of oysters they had for sale. He asked •if they, were stolen and he was assured thev were not. After the men left the shop ,Mr Xypteras telephoned the police and asked if any ; oysters had been stolen. When he was told that there I had been a large theft at Bluff he telephoned the bank and stopped the cheque. I Cowan, Nicholas and an-: I other youth who were travelling in a rental vail returnedIto the shop and wanted to (know why payment was I stopped. Mr Xypteras told I them that he believed the oysters could have been stolen. Cowan asked the proprietor to speak to him at the back of the shop and there he said: “I’ll level with you, they are stolen.” Nicholas told him that if the oysters were put in plain plastic bags no-one would know the difference. Soon after the police arrived and took Cowan, Nicholas and another youth, who was outside in the van, into custody.

It was the Crown's conten- : tion that Cowan had been caught red-handed in a blatant case of receiving as he was attempting to dispose of the stolen oysters at a cheap price. It was a classic example of receiving with the use of a false name and the request of cash for the goods. Mr Panckhurst said. Cowan told a detective that the two youths were strangers to him. They had arrived at his home that morning driving a rental vehicle and said they had come from Invercargill and asked tor his assistance in disposing of a quantity of oysters. It was claimed by Cowan ( that he did not know the oysters were stolen but only realised that they were after the cheque had been stopped. The Crown said that was rubbish. Cowan admitted that he had originally; I told the fish-shop proprietor j that the oysters were not I stolen, Mr Panckhurst said. The evidence of Mr Xypteras given in the Mag- 1 istrate’s Court was read to the jury because he has since ‘ returned to Greece. Cowan said in evidence that the two youths had introduced themselves to him as friends of his brother-in-law. Persons from the Invercargill area, who worked as fishermen and at the freez-i ing works, sometimes asked 1

him to sei! mutton birds, crayfish and oysters for them. He took the two young men to the Inter Island Hotel and then the Lion Tavern in Lincoln Road to see if he could find a buyer for the oysters and they eventually went to the fish shop in Worcester Street and arranged the sale. He did not consider the price low because the oysters were frozen. Nicholas did not tell him the oysters were stolen until after the cheque was stopped. He did not try and get away at that stage because his appearance was very distinctive and he knew that the police would soon find him, Cowan said. To Mr Panckhurst Covvgn said that the carton of oyIsters in the back of the van (was covered with blankets and clothing but that did not ■ strike him as odd. He did not think it was necessary ■for him to ask questions about where the oysters had come from. Cowan claimed that he thought the oysters were Nicholas's free “perk” ones to which he was entitled because he worked on an oyster boat and that they had been packed for him by the company. He admitted thsj that was the first time fie had put forward that explan.’ a tion.