Accused denies exploding bomb at airport

Press, 14 December 1982, Page 7

Accused denies exploding bomb at airport

Although he had handled a pipe bomb some seconds before it exploded in the men’s toilets at the Christchurch International Airport on the day the Springboks were to play Waikato at Hamilton last year the accused had seen no smoke coming from the fuse, Mr Justice Cook and a jury were told in the High Court yesterday. John Robert Davison, aged 34, a shop assistant, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of wilfully damaging the Christchurch Airport building by an explosive. The trial did not resume after the luncheon adjournment because his Honour was unwell. It was adjourned until 10 a.m. today. Mr G. K. Panckhurst appears for the Crown, and Mr P. G. S. Penlington, Q.C., and Miss I. M. Mitchell for Davison. Opening his case Mr Panckhurst said that soon after 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 25, 1981, there was an explosion in a cubicle in the men’s toilets at the Christchurch Airport. Fortunately through amazing luck no-one was injured because there were many persons in the terminal building at the time and the damage was not as great as it might have been. The bomb had been placed at the back or on top of a cistern and the blast was contained within the cubicle because the walls were made of a thick marble-like material, strong enough to withstand the explosion. The police were quickly on the scene and a man, later identified as Davison, spoke to a constable and told a television news team which was on the scene that he had been in the toilet area when the explosion occurred. His comment appeared on a television news programme on the explosion. Detective Donald Norman Stewart, who was stationed at the airport, quickly sealed off the area and gathered up the remnants of the bomb. A fortnight later on August 6 Davison telephoned Detective Stewart when he was at home off duty and said that he believed that he (Davison) was the person the detective was looking for, and confirmed that he was the person who had spoken to the

constable and the television crew.

Davison then disclosed that he had actually been in the cubicle where the explosion occurred a short time before and had even handled the bomb. He said that he had seen a parcel which looked like someone’s lunch, on the ledge of the cistern, which looked like it had been left there by mistake. A biscuit tin was wrapped in a plastic bag which was marked with the trade name “Polaris," a brand of saucepans. Mr Panckhurst said. Detective Sergeant Colin Thomas Dalzell interviewed Davison and took a formal statement from him in which he said that on July 25, 1981, he had picked up his two daughters, aged four and five, from his wife’s home and took them out to the airport to watch the planes come and go. The five-year-old had wanted to go to the toilet so he took her into one of the men’s cubicles were he found the biscuit tin wrapped in two plastic bags—a white outer one and an inner one with the trade name “Polaris” on it. While his daughter was using a hand dryer in the washbasin area the explosion had taken place, Davison said in the statement.A week later Detective Sergeant Dalzell and other police went to Davison’s home at Kaiapoi with a search warrant. By that stage the police had received information from Dr Michael Cecil Taylor, a scientist employed by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. Dr Taylor had pieced to gether the remnants of the bomb and had concluded that the device had consisted of a piece of galvanised pipe, 14cm long and threaded on both ends so that seal caps could be inserted. In one cap a small hole had been drilled to take fuse wire. The remains of the colourcoded fuse wire of a special type were also examined. It was established that the explosive material was a smokeless powder used in shotgun cartridges which had been put in the pipe with a number of shotgun pellets.

The debris was assembled and the scientist found that the pipe bomb had been inside a biscuit tin with a

lake scene on the lid and it had been covered with two plastic bags, the inner of which had a “Polaris” trade mark on it. Davison was located at the hardware shop in Kaiapoi where he worked and returned with the police to his home. A search was made of the house and the double garage by a team of detectives, under the direction of Detective Sergeant Dalzell. Shotgun cartridges of various sizes were found in the garage and shotgun pellets were discovered loose in a tin. When examined by Dr Taylor he ascertained that the pellets were similar to ones used in the pipe bomb. The garage floor was surprisingly clean but from the' sweepings was removed a smokeless powder of the same type used in the explosive device detonated at the airport. Davison told Detective Senior-Sergeant James Victor Dwight that he had once owned a shotgun but had sold it “ages ago" to Smiths City Market. He admitted that he had dismantled two shotgun cartridges. It was confirmed by Davison that the firm he worked for sold galvanised pipe fitt-

ings, safety fuse for explosives and Polaris branch kitchenware. He denied that he had put the bomb in the terminal building but said that everything pointed to him “but I didn’t do it." In September Davison’s employer, Graham Gordon Pratley, took a sample of fuse wire stocked by his firm to the Kaiapoi police station. While speaking to the constable be said that at the end of 1980 he had purchased six tins of biscuits from Griffins as Christmas gifts for his workers. Five of the tins had been given to the employees and Mr Pratley said that he had kept one for himself which he produced for the police. It contained a coloured lake scene with mountains in the background on the lid, and on the bottom was a small blue sticker placed there by the manufacturer to show the biscuits had been manufactured in 1980 for the Christmas market. The tin in which the pipe bomb had been placed was similar to the one produced by Mr Pratley and the bomb tin had the same blue sticker on the bottom, Mr Panckhurst said.

In November last year an experiment was carried out to test Davisop’s story about his going into the cubicle. A device similar to the pipe bomb was assembled but without the explosive. A fuse of the same length was inserted and lit and the experiment was filmed. The fuse generated a considerable amount of smoke and took 55 seconds to burn which was in accordance with the manufacturers specifications. The Crown said that that was at odds with Davison’s version of what had happened. He had said that he had handled th device only a short time before the explosion. He had walked away and only a matter of seconds later it had gone off. Davison had made no mention that the bomb was smoking when he handled it. In February this year Detective Sergeant Dalzell had shown Davison the biscuit tin obtained from Mr Pratley. Davison said that he had never had a tin like that. When told of the Christmas gifts distributed by his firm he admitted that he had received one but said he did not know what had become of the tin. He thought that the biscuits might have been eaten on a trip to Picton. A thorough search of Davison’s home established that there was no similar biscuit

tin there, said Mr Panckhurst. • Detective Sergeant Dalzell saw Davison again in March and after a formal warning that he was not obliged to say anything he was asked a series of questions. Davison assured the detective that there was no sign of smoke when he examined the device in the. airport toilet. When arrested Davison's reaction was significant. He did not say that a mistake had been made or that he was innocent but: “I’ve been waiting for this for seven months,” Mr Panckhurst said. Morris Walter Atkinson, manager of the Christchurch International Airport, said that the cost of repairing the damage to the toilet was $1294. To Mr Penlington Mr Atkinson said that the day of the explosion was the day the n.«tch between -the Springboks and Waikato was supposed to be played at Hamilton. It had been known for some days before that there might be trouble at the airport. There had been publicity in the newspapers and on radio and television about a march to the airport terminal. Air New Zealand was being criticised by some of the protest groups. Feelings were running high on both sides. Arrangements had been

made for additional police and security had been tightened up. It was a busy afternoon and persons flying to Hokitika had been held up because of weather conditions. There were five flights in and out in the period between noon and 2 p.m. The records showed that there were 298 passenger arrivals and 122 departures. At least 50 per cent of the passengers were met by somebody and sometimes by more than one person. Shops in the terminal building were open and the rental car firms were operating, Mr Atkinson said in reply to questions. Detective Stewart, who is stationed at the Christchurch Airport, said that he was in the international arrival hall about 2.15 p.m. when he was told that there had been an explosion in the toilets of the domestic terminal. The area between the cubicles and wash basins was separated by a wall of concrete nine to 10 inches thick. Smoke was coming from one of the cubicles and there was a strong smell of gunpowder. It was obvious that an explosion had taken place in the second toilet from the left. There were pieces of metal, plastic, tin and burnt fuse scattered about the floor. The shelf above the cistern had a hole some six inches in diameter through it. In line with the shelf was

a hole an inch and a half in diameter through the solid core door. Pieces of metal had been hurtled into the urinal opposite the cubicle. In the washbasin area there was a large piece of galvanised metal which he presumed had been responsible for the damage to the door. The windows above the toilet were smashed and there were pit marks in the ceiling. Uniformed police were preventing the public from entering the toilet block. On August 6. 1981, Detective Stewart said he received a telephone call from Davison who said that he understood witness was looking for him in connection with the explosion at the airport. Davison said that he had been in the toilet area at the time of the explosion and that as far as he could remember there had been no-one else there. Then he added: “I forgot to tell you fellows at the time but I would have picked up the bag with the bomb in it. It wasn’t until I heard the description of the bag on the radio that I realised it.” To Mr Penlington Detective Stewart said that 12 uniformed policemen were stationed permanently at the airport. There were extra police on duty that day because of the Springbok protest.