Motueka man discharged

Press, 23 July 1986, Page 4

Motueka man discharged

Nelson reporter Sixteen months after being arrested on a . charge of the aggravated robbery of a Motueka accountant, a young Motueka man was discharged by Mr Justice Jeffries on the second day of his High Court trial in Nelson. Mark Te Whetu Whanga, aged 23, pleaded not guilty to a charge that on June 28, 1984, with Timothy Arthur Drummond and one other, he robbed Percy James Craig of $2lOO.

In discharging Whanga at 11.20 a.m. yesterday, his Honour told the jury a very high standard of proof was required, and in his view in this case the evidence didn’t get anywhere near that standard. ' -r Mr W. R. Flaus appeared for the Crown and Mr C. N. Tuohy for Whanga. His Honour heard evidence in chambers on Monday afternoon and three further applications were heard in chambers yesterday.

After the third — an application by Mr Flaus to have a witness, Timothy Drummond, declared hostile — Mr Flaus closed the Crown case, and his Honour discharged Whanga. In his evidence yesterday, Drummond said he had served a prison sentence for his part in the robbery, which he had committed with one other person. Only two persons were involved, and he would not disclose the identity of the second person.