Conspiracy charge

Press, 21 July 1988, Page 17

Conspiracy charge

Three men alleged to have conspired to steal drugs which are being delivered to Sunnyside Hospital last December left the hospital grounds in a stolen vehicle they had used, followed by the police. After a high-speed chase from Domain Terrace the- vehicle hit a car while attempting to turn from Cobham Street into Barrington Street, and the men were apprehended.

Evidence of these events was given in the District Court yesterday when three men faced trial on theft and other charges. The defendants, who have denied the charges, are Mita Wetini Jacobs, aged 27, unemployed (Mr R. G. Glover), Parnell Erania Manu, aged 20, unemployed (Mr D. J. R. Holderness), and Nathan Horua, aged 33, a bone carver (Mr P. N. Dyhrberg). The three face a joint charge of conspiring to commit theft of drugs, valued at $5OO, the property of the Canterbury Hospital Board. Jacobs is also charged with stealing a utility vehicle, valued at $16,000,

owned by Construction Development, Ltd. Manu and Horua are also charged with unlawfully getting into this vehicle, and Manu is charged with having had his face masked by day with intent to commit theft.

The trial, before Judge Erber and a jury, will continue today.

In her outline of the Crown’s case, Miss B. M. Coughlan said that on December 10 police kept watch on a car which had been seen to drive into the Sunnyside Hospital grounds. Horua and three other men were in it. The Crown contended that the men were to “case” the area, watching for deliveries of medicines and drugs to hospital areas. The car duly drove out of the grounds. The next day, December 11, a commercial utility vehicle, later found to have been taken from where it was briefly stopped in Wordsworth Street at 11 a.m. that day, was seen by police to enter the grounds. Horua and Jacobs were in the cab, and Manu was in the back, “covered up” with a

scarf and hat. All three wore white overalls.

Miss Coughlan said evidence would be that the car was seen to follow a truck which was delivering medlicines and drugs.

The Crown contended that the men were following the truck, intending to steal the medicines and drugs. Ultimately, they left the hospital grounds and were followed by the police into Domain Terrace. There they stopped behind the parked car which had been seen in the hospital grounds the day before. Upon the approach of the police the utility vehicle was driven off at high speed, pursued by the police.

The men were apprehended after running away from the car after it had crashed into another car while turning from Cobham Street into Barrington Street. A search of the utility vehicle showed a number of items which did not belong to the vehicle’s owner. These included a scarf, gloves, balaclava, a screwdriver, and overalls.