Kidnap hearing near end

Press, 9 October 1987, Page 9

Kidnap hearing near end

PA Gisborne Cross-examination of key police investigators is occupying the late stages of the Ruatoria kidnapping hearing in the District Court at Gisborne. The deposition hearing has to hear only two more witnesses, but is expected to go into a sixth day today as defence counsel examine procedures and alleged anomalies in statements by the complainant. The hearing resumed yesterday with an investigator questioned by counsel over the way exhibits were handled. Before Judge Trapski

are four Gisborne detectives and a detective from Hastings on charges of kidnap and assault. They are Detective Sergeant Lawrence Richard Naden, aged 39, Detectives Hemi Honotapu Hikawai, aged 35, and Michael John Wilkinson, aged 31, and Detective Constables Malcolm John Thomas, aged 32, and David Jeffrey Neilson, aged 29. Cross-examination of Chief Inspector Whiro Ratahi, Gisborne’s deputy district commander, continued yesterday as Mr Nigel Hampton, for Hikawai and Thomas, took him through alleged in-

consistencies in Maxwell’s story as related in his original statement, his evidence brief and the evidence he gave to the hearing last week. Mr Hampton asked for the brief to be produced to the witness to establish alleged contradictory statements by Maxwell. The Crown objected that the brief was not admissible. The hearing was interrupted yesterday morning as the judge and four counsel discussed procedure for cross-examina-tion of the witness on Maxwell’s various accounts of his alleged abduction.