Pilot denies claims

Press, 12 May 1981, Page 7

Pilot denies claims

A red-and-white helicopter with false registration letters was twice seen poachng deer in the foothills of the Southern Alps in North Canterbury, Mr Justice Cook and a jury were told in the High Court yesterday. William Hanmer Atkinson, aged 25, a commercial pilot, has pleaded not guilty to two

charges that he flew a Hughes helicopter in the Puketeraki Ranges on January. 6, and February 27, 1980, when it bore false registration letters. Mr G. K. Panckhurst appears for the Crown, and Messrs B. McClelland, Q.C., and P. H. B. Hall for Atkinson.

Opening his case Mr Panckhurst said that the Crown alleged that Atkinson had flown his family’s helicopter which operated from the Hanmer Springs area with registration letters which had been altered from HLW to HKW. The machine had a distinctive red-and-white colour scheme.

On January 6, 1980, Anthony John Carmody, was flying a helicopter with Mr

John Chapman as his shooter, about 8 p.m. towards the headwaters of the Ashley. River when they saw another helicopter over an area of land where they were entitled to shoot.

They flew towards the other machine which was flying in a systematic pattern to herd any deer, which might be there to the head of the valley. The shooting rights which were allocated by land owners were jealously guarded by deer recovery teams, Mr 'Panckhurst said.

When the pilot of the poaching helicopter saw them approaching he flew off but not until they had approached within about 100 metres of the machine which was red-and-white and bore the identification markings of HKW.

Evidence would be given that the registration belonged to a green-and-white helicopter operated by South West Helicopters, Ltd, in Westland.

On the evening of February 27,1980, Messrs Carmody and Chapman saw the red-

and-white helicopter on the ground in the high country. It was the same machine they had encountered six weeks before. ' T

While the helicopter hovered Mr Chapman alighted and spoke to Atkinson and his shooter, a Mr Taylor, who was recovering a deer which had been recently shot. A complaint was made to the civil aviation authorities. An examination of Atkinson’s log book and the flight records of his family’s helicopter showed that the machine had been flown by Atkinson on deer recovery for about six hours on both January 6 and February 27. Atkinson denied that the registration letters on his helicopter had been changed. He knew the helicopter with the registration letters HKW.

The Crown said that it was significant . that Atkinson used the registration letters of a machine which operated in a different area, Mr Panckhurst said. Crown evidence was still continuing when his Honour adjourned the case to today.