Former airline attendant cleared of drug charges

Press, 14 January 1986, Page 7

Former airline attendant cleared of drug charges

PA Auckland A former Air New Zealand senior cabin attendant who lost his job, $90,000 house and spent two months in jail, has been cleared of drugs charges. The Solicitor-General, Mr Paul Neazor, Q.C., granted a stay of proceedings on Christmas Day to Rex Barrington Casey, aged 38, who was charged with conspiring with others to supply cocaine.

At the end of a seven-day trial in March, and after deliberating for eight hours, the jury failed to reach a verdict

Mr Casey pleaded not guilty and has maintained his innocence since. He was earlier found not guilty of importing LSD. “It was a good Christmas present,” he said. “But I really expected it.” Mr Casey said that he lent $20,000 to an associate for house renovations. The police asserted that the money was used to buy drugs. He was arrested and spent 55 days in jail at Mount Eden on remand. He lost his job of 12 years and will soon fight to get it back.

His union told him that he would have a better chance of getting his job back, and proving his innocence, by financing himself and not working in the interim. Mr Casey did this but was forced to sell his $90,000 Auckland home to pay lawyers’ bills and to live. He stayed in a caravan for a year and has now rented a small flat. “You never come through okay with something like this — I will always be

scarred,” Mr Casey said.

“Because I was an airline steward there was immediate speculation of an international connection. At the trial there were allegations that we had Mafia contacts.”

He described his time in jail as the worst experience of his life. He said that he was treated like a criminal, “guilty, as far as they were concerned.”

“Now I will just start again,” he said.