Pharmacist tells Court of dwarf with knife

Press, 21 July 1986, Page 2

Pharmacist tells Court of dwarf with knife

PA Wellington A pharmacist testified in the High Court at Wellington that when a dwarf appeared at his dispensary holding a knife he had recognised him instantly. “My reaction was, 'Not again. I don’t believe this,’ because he is very well known among pharmacists in the district,” Mr Christopher John Budgen told the Court He had been called to testify in relation to statements allegedly made to him by Piers Valletorte Edgecumbe, aged 39, who appeared for sentence for aggravated robbery and demanding with menaces. Edgecumbe, a dwarf, was jailed by Mr Justice McGechan for four years for aggravated robbery and for two years, concurrently, on the other charge. Edgecumbe’s counsel, Mr Gary Turklngton, said the summary of facts was largely accepted except for some words alleged to have been said by Edgecumbe in the chemist’s shop when he asked for drugs to be removed from the safe. In dispute was the expression “or else he would carve up the girls.” In evidence, Mr Budgen said he was the owner and manager of a pharmacy at High Street, Motueka. Between 4 p.m. and 4.30 p.m. on May 19 Edgecumbe appeared at

the edge of the dispensary holding a knife in his hand.

“I recognised him instantly and my reaction was, ‘Not again. I don’t believe this,’ because he is very well known among pharmacists in the district,” Mr Budgen said.

He said he noticed Edgecumbe’s eyes were watery and red-rimmed. It was a feature he had observed in every drug addict he had come across.

After the threat to cut up the girls was made the pharmacist offered the accused Valium. “He asked me for some real stuff.”

Edgecumbe, in evidence on his own behalf, said he went to the pharmacy in the mid or late afternoon. Previously he had been to a doctor’s surgery at Motueka.

“I asked the doctor in Motueka to allow me to have sufficient narcotics to carry me through to Auckland,” he said.

He said he had a knife with him.

“I attempted to procure the drug from him through this means,” Edgecumbe said. “When that didn’t work I pointed the knife at me ... and I could see I was getting nowhere, so I left.”

Edgecumbe denied threatening the women.

His Honour said Dr Bridge had . referred to Edgecumbe as achondro-

plastic (a form of dwarfing). Edgecumbe had worked at jobs in various parts of New Zealand, had one marriage and other occasional associations and obviously was capable of some depths of feeling. But, the dominating feature of his life, at least since 1969, had been his drug-taking. “There have been attempts to break this addiction — methodone programmes, some sojourns in Oakley, and perhaps others too, but they have been ineffective,” His Honour said. “Dr Bridge has commented on the

reasons why that may be so. It appears' that rehabilitation from drug-tak-ing, your past ways of life, if possible at all, would be extremely difficult.” Edgecumbe’s criminal history was from 1971, which began more or less with his entry into drugtaking. It included theft, forgery, robbery, aggravated robbery, demanding with intent as well as associated drug offences. "On both charges there is no alternative but to impose a full-time custodial sentence, in other words imprisonment,” he said.