Men caught ‘red-handed’ with cannabis, Court told

Press, 2 December 1981, Page 4

Men caught ‘red-handed’ with cannabis, Court told

Two men. on trial in the District Court, were said by the crown prosecutor (Mr G. K. Panckhurst) to have been “caught red-handed’’ by customs officers soon after completing a transaction involving cannabis from an overseas ship. Mr Panckhurst was giving an outline of the Crown’s case to the jury in a joint charge against Anthony Paul Boreham. aged 24. a barman (Mr P. B. McMenamin) and Michael Charles Hollis, aged 24, a gardener (Mr G. M. Brodie) of possessing cannabis for supply, on July 22. The men have denied the charge. The case, which is before Judge Fraser and a jury, will continue today.

A total of I.Bkg of cannabis is alleged to be involved. A senior customs officer. John Athol Robinson, detailed a customs surveillance kept in Lyttelton after the berthing of the ship, Nedlloyd Fraser, on July 21, and a visit made to a house in Lyttelton in which he said two African seamen, the two defendants, and two Maori men were found drinking, and a search revealed packages of cannabis. He said there was a considerable amount of movement from the ship; most of whose crew were Africans, to the British Hotel. About 10.30 p.m. he saw the two defendants leave the hotel, walking towards .the road tunnel. , 15 minutes later, from.an-

other vantage point providing a view of the transit sheds where the vessel was berthed, Mr Robinson said he saw a small car drive along Cashin Quay Road from the town area. Its lights were out. The vehicle stopped near a weighbridge and the two defendants got out, and walked across the transit shed area on to the wharf and out of the witness’s sight. The car then left, with its lights still off. towards Lyttelton. From another position in the transit shed area, at 2 a.m. the next day, the witness saw headlights approaching from the town area on to Cashin Quay. As the vehicle neared the weighbridge it slowed and a person who was standing on the car door-sill jumped off. The car was the same one seen earlier. The person who alighted, Hollis, ran across vacant land behind a transit shed and disappeared around the custom end, on to the wharf out of sight. At 2.35 a.m. Hollis and three Africans came around the custom end of a transit shed and walked towards where the car was still parked near the weighbridge.

As-they approached it the vehicle was driven towards them and they got in. It then travelled slowly along Cashin Quay. The car stopped after 20m and an African and Hollis alighted. The African left while Hollis stood by the car rearranging his clothing as if taking something from the lower portion of his body. He then got back inside and the car drove off towards the town area, with its lights out. At 2.55 a.m. Mr Robinson and other customs officers went to a house in Hawkhurst Road, Lyttelton, and gained entry through a rear door by force. Six persons were in the kitchen, drinking. They were two African seamen, the two defendants, and two Maori men. The defendants were spoken to and denied having visited the ship, or having any drugs. A search revealed 11 packr ages of cannabis plant — three in a bedroom and eight in the kitchen. An envelope found in the house contained $lOOO in $2O notes. Other customs officers also gave evidence of the surveillance and of the raid on the house.