Dead pilot appeals conviction

A Haast helicopter pilot believed he had customary rights to mine greenstone (pounamu) from South Westland's Cascade Plateau, the Court of Appeal was told today.

Morgan Saxton, 30, is appealing his conviction for greenstone theft from beyond the grave, after he was killed in chopper crash last year.

Saxton and his father David Saxton, 62, were found guilty in 2007 of the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of pounamu from Ngai Tahu.

Morgan Saxton was sentenced to two years and six months jail and his father to an extra three months.

They were also required to pay reparations of $300,000. They launched an appeal against the convictions and sentence last year.

However, Morgan Saxton was killed when his helicopter crashed in Lake Wanaka in November.

He died without a will and his mother was granted control of his estate.

The Court of Appeal in March granted permission for her to continue the appeal, which began today in Wellington today.

Defence counsel Gerard McCoy QC argued the pair had believed they had a customary right to take the greenstone.

Dr McCoy said Morgan Saxton had been fostered into a Maori family at the age of two.

He mined for pounamu with the family as a child and believed the right to take the stone had passed to him when he joined the family.

The appeal was set down for three days.

- NZPA