Second man told police ketch tied up at inlet

By Eugene Bingham and Alison Horwood

WELLINGTON - A second water taxi driver reported seeing the unidentified ketch that Olivia Hope and Ben Smart were first thought to have disappeared on, the High Court at Wellington heard yesterday.

Robert John Moera Mullen initially told the police he saw a blue and white two-masted ketch in Endeavour Inlet at the New Year celebrations.

His statement backed up the word of fellow Furneaux Lodge water taxi driver Guy Wallace, who said he dropped the couple on a boat of that description with a lone sailor.

The Crown says such a boat does not exist. Prosecutors allege Mr Wallace in fact dropped them at a single-masted yacht with Scott Watson, who has denied murdering the Blenheim friends.

Mr Mullen, from the Kapiti Coast, was shown a drawing of a ketch initially sought by police.

Asked by crown prosecutor Nicola Crutchley if he had seen it, Mr Mullen said he had originally told police he had, but then changed his mind.

"I ... concluded that it was the Alliance I saw," he said, referring to another, similar-looking ketch that has been ruled out of the inquiry.

Under cross-examination from defence counsel Bruce Davidson, Mr Mullen said he helped police on January 8 last year by drawing the position of where he thought the ketch was in the inlet.

On the same map, he also showed the location of the Alliance.

Mr Davidson: When you drew this on January 8, it must have been clear in your mind that this ketch was a different boat than the Alliance. Do you agree?

Mr Mullen: Yes.

He admitted that he later changed his mind when he looked at the detail of police photographs depicting the Alliance. But he denied suggestions that police had convinced him the ketch did not exist.

Mr Mullen, who was one of five water taxi drivers, said he had a busy night ferrying people to and from the boats anchored off the lodge.

Rachel Isabel Veitch, who supervised the water taxis from the jetty, told the court the VHF radios she was using to keep in contact with the boats coming into the area ran out of batteries about 12.30 am.

Until then, incoming boaties had radioed to find out where they could tie up. She agreed with defence counsel it was possible for boats to have arrived without her knowing.

Miss Veitch said she had an encounter with a young woman named Olivia about 3.20 am.

Olivia was with a group of males waiting on the jetty. Miss Veitch asked whether the group needed a ride, but Olivia told her they had one coming. About half an hour later, they all left in a speedboat.

Another witness, Canterbury student Christopher Warren Bisman, said he saw his friend Ollie Perkins suddenly leave the main bar at Furneaux Lodge after a confrontation with a strange man.

The court heard last week how Watson taunted Mr Perkins about his sister's battle with cancer.

Mr Bisman said he did not hear what was said between Watson and Mr Perkins, but saw Mr Perkins leave the bar suddenly.

He went outside to comfort him.

"I went back inside [the bar] and talked to the man and asked him to apologise for what he said," said Mr Bisman. "He apologised to Ollie but I didn't think it was sincere."

Mr Bisman identified the man as Watson in a police montage.

Timothy Anthony Ian Everist said he was among a group who rounded on Watson.

"He [Watson] was sort of grinning ... I think I grabbed him by the shirt and we were broken up by the bouncers."