Pair convicted on several charges of injuring police

Press, 4 November 1989, Page 9

Pair convicted on several charges of injuring police

PA Wellington Two labourers accused of attacking three off-duty policemen outside a Wellington city hotel have been found guilty of some charges and acquitted of others.

Roman Ruakingi Forrest, aged 24, was found not guilty of injuring two of the policemen with intent but guilty of injuring the other.

David Robshaw jnr, aged 22, was found guilty of injuring two of the policemen and acquitted of injuring the other.

In the District Court at Wellington Judge Paterson remanded the two men to November 24 for sentencing.

They were charged after an incident outside a Thorndon hotel on September 2, 1988. The Crown alleged the two men attacked the three off-duty officers.

The three were hospitalised, one with a broken jaw, another with two front teeth knocked out, and the third with

cuts and bruises. Robshaw’s defence counsel, Mr Vai Nisbet, claimed Robshaw had been grabbed around the throat by one officer before exchanging blows and Forrest had punched only one officer once, when the officer moved towards him in a threatening way.

Prosecuting, Mr Cameron Mander told the jury that evidence presented during the trial appeared confusing but the over-all picture was one of a “massacre” rather than a “bar-room brawl.” He said Crown witnesses had seen different events during the fight but no-one had seen the off-duty police officers throw a punch.

There was little evidence of provocation by way of verbal abuse from the officers and, in any case, such provocation was not a defence for assault. Forrest and Robshaw had lied to the jury about the night’s events, Mr

Mander said. Mr Nisbet said there was evidence the three policemen were drunk when the fight took place. None of them had been able to recall details of the fight.

There was such variation in the Crown’s evidence about who fought who that the evidence did not make sense, he said.

Mr Jock Hobbs, representing Forrest, said some Crown witnesses had supported Forrest’s claim he had thrown only one punch at one officer when intimidated. Other evidence created confusion about the identity of those fighting and suggested there was a third person who looked iike Forrest involved in the brawl.

It was not good enough for the jury to convict on the belief that the over-all picture was one of Forrest and Robshaw attacking the police, Mr Hobbs said.