Peter Hillary asserts he is innocent

Press, 28 April 1980, Page 6

Peter Hillary asserts he is innocent

PA Wellington f | Peter Hillary, aged 25. the: ■ son of Sir Edmund Hillary/ charged te-it week in Thai- t liana on heroin possession: [Charges, strenuously asser-'i [ted his innocence, a sister- | said laot evening. Mrs Sarah Boyer said he: had never taken drugs. Shej had earlier talked to her brother in Bangkok by telephone. “He told me he had not even used painkillers, even on the epic, three-day descent of the west face of Amadab-; lam (in the Himalayas) last October when he was badly injured,” Mrs Boyer said. Mr Hillary’ was arrested on April 22 in a suburb of Bangkok, detained overnight, and released on bail. Informed sources in Bangkok said they expected Mr Hillary’ would appear in court for a remand tomorrow. . The police alleged they found the heroin contained in three straws, similar to drinking straws, that Mr Hillary was holding when arrested. Mrs Boy’er -said her brother’s lawyer was trying

fto get certain "unusual” ■ features of the charge clariJ fieri and he hoped to resolve the allegations over the ’next week. i “Peter is absolutely [shocked and denies the ' charges, Mi-s Boyer said. She jwas unable to say what her j brother was doing at the time of his arrest or what part of Bangkok he was in. According to earlier reports, Mr Hillary was in Bangkok on a one-day stopcourtesy of Thai Inter- ■ national airline. He was on his way to Nepal to make a film about h:-s father for Australian television. Mrs Boyer said the New Zealand embassy in Bangkok was helping her brother and that messages about the charge had been sent to Sir Edmund, who was in the Nepal hills. He was in a remote area and it w&j not yet known whether he had received the messages. Mr Hillary is staying with his father’s sister, Mrs June Carlile, who is working on a British aid project near Bangkok.