Police trying to introduce tirivia- Mr Thomas

Press, 14 May 1980, Page 2

Police trying to introduce tiriviaMr Thomas

PA • . i Auckland The police were yesterday accused of trying to introduce “trivia” into the Commission of. Inquiry into the Thomas case, turning the inquiry into a-third trial. Mr Arthur Thomas said yesterday' he would ■ have nothing to do with the inquiry if it became a third trial for the murders .of Jeanette and Harvey Crewe.b; ’“The police va-t to get round; the main issue by introducing' trivial stuff,” he said. “The police ? are tryng to confuse the issue.” 1 ■'Mr Thomas criticised two of the ’terms of reference for the inquiry. ■One of them, he says, narrows. the scope of the other terms of reference, leaving out members of the Judiciary and the legal system from the commission’s scrutiny. , ■ Another term of. reference would allow the inquiry to become a “third trial.” “It allows the introduction of new evidence. This gets away from the main issues The public inquiry, should look into-the conduct: of the trials,” Mr Thomas said. . " ‘TfjTh'is ’is going to be s third, (trial- we will not gain blit it will cost; the taxpayers -a'ilot of' money.' “As far as .1,. am concerned, there should be nc public inquiry''if it is to be that sort of system.”

Claims by the Arthur Allan Thomas Retrial Committee' that a new provision had been introduced into the commission’s terms of reference in it's inquiry were denied yesterday by the Minister of Justice (Mr McLay). On Monday the committee’s chairman (Mr David Payne) said the “new” provision expressly, forbade the commission to inquire into the conduct of the trials. He said the provision was spelt

d.out for.the first time in pubyili’c notices, earlier this .i month. e Yesterday Mr McLay said 3 he was “astonished” at the e committee’s, claim. ,< “This appears "to be a reff erenceto the provision that e none of the terms y should . empower the commissjqh to (P inquire into or report* upon .'the actual conduct of the trials, whether by the courts or on the part of the Crown Jor the defence. e “The committee should ~ have been aware that at the 6 1 time 1 held a press confero.:ence on April 24 to an-t-1 nounce the terms of reference I also' released a copy • lof the full terms of refer■r'ence as published in that g day’s issue of the Gazette,” e Mr McLay said. I “The provision is a parsi ticularly important one as it ‘was included to avoid the e possibility of the commiso| sion’s becoming a retrial, I which is something everyone n wanted to avoid,” he said.