Charge ‘unrelated to truck-bomb death’

Press, 27 March 1986, Page 7

Charge ‘unrelated to truck-bomb death’

Interim suppression of name was continued by Judge Pain for a man who appeared in the District Court yesterday charged with attempting to procure a man to murder another person.

The Judge continued the order because, he said, the charge appeared to be unrelated to the truck-bomb death of Mr Denis Drinkwater at Sockburn on February 18.

The defendant is charged with attempting about January 4 to procure Kelvin Joseph Goodwin to murder another person.

The defendant was remanded on renewed bail of $5OOO to May 8 for the taking of depositions. Counsel, Mr C. D. Eason, in seeking the suppression order said publication of his client’s name could be prejudicial. Unfortunately, he said, the charge facing his client had already been linked by the news media to the murder of Mr Drinkwater.

There was nothing the defendant could do to correct this impression until

the facts were heard at the depositions hearing, said Mr Eason. Because of news media interpretation, some real prejudice had already been shown to his client, who had been suspended from his job. Sergeant M. P. Caldwell, in reply to a question by the Judge, said nobody had been charged with the Hornby truck-bomb murder and the present charge appeared to be unrelated to it.

On a charge of making a false burglary report to an insurance firm to obtain compensation for items allegedly stolen, the defendant was remanded to May 7 for the taking of depositions. The defendant, who Mr Eason said would plead not guilty, is charged with committing this offence on February 20. FURTHER REMAND A man charged with the rape and attempted murder of a woman, aged 25, was further remanded in custody to April 9 to enable further psychiatric

tests to be made. The remand was sought by counsel, Mr Gerald Hensley, for John Douglas Bennett, aged 31, of no fixed abode. Bennett is charged with robbing the woman of $52 while armed with a knife; abducting her with intent to have sexual intercourse with her; wounding her with intent to cause grievous bodily harm; rape; attempted murder; and unlawfully taking her husband’s $3500 car.

A new charge laid yesterday accuses Bennett of sexually violating the woman by having an unlawful sexual connection with her.

The charges relate to an incident in which a woman was taken from a Christchurch sex shop on the morning of March 5.

Later in the day a car crashed near Lincoln and a naked woman, bound and gagged, was flung out of the boot. As Bennett left the dock yesterday yells of “bastard,” and “dirty rapist” came from half a dozen women in the public gallery.