KEY POINTS:
A Haast father and son have been found guilty of stealing greenstone from the Cascade Plateau in South Westland, four months after the evidence was completed in their trial in Christchurch District Court.
Judge Gary MacAskill delivered his verdicts in front of a gallery of almost 100 people today, announcing David Anthony Saxton, 60, and Morgan David Saxton, 28, were guilty on one joint charge.
Two other charges against David Saxton and one charge against Morgan Saxton were dismissed.
The two helicopter pilots were convicted of stealing greenstone in the period from October 1997 to September 2003. The Crown said the greenstone (pounamu) was the property of the Ngai Tahu tribe.
The charges dismissed related to periods before and after this time.
Hearing of evidence in the seven-week trial ended in late June.
The judge discounted both men's claims that they had Maori customary rights to take the greenstone. There was no direct evidence of the claims and David Saxton had never mentioned them in telephone calls intercepted by the police.
"If he had thought he had been exercising customary rights, that omission would be extraordinary," said the judge.
At the trial, defence counsel Colin Withnall QC said David Saxton claimed delegated customary rights from a South Westland kaumatua (elder) who was the father of Saxton's common law wife.
Judge MacAskill said David Saxton carried out mining of pounamu on the Cascade Plateau "in circumstances that indicate an intention to keep the mining secret". There was no disclosure to the tribal authorities.
He hid the pounamu around his farm, moved some to another family farm near Christchurch, and asked that it be moved from the shed when he became concerned there might be a police search.
"Judging by his level of anxiety, I consider that (David) Saxton was surprised by the thoroughness of the police searches and investigation. He was plainly dismayed by the police search of the Cascade Plateau.
"His omission to remove potentially incriminating material may simply have been misjudgment on his part and perhaps recognition that concealment of accounting records might prove futile.
"David Saxton did not disclose to purchasers of pounamu that he was exercising customary rights but, on a couple of occasions, when the matter was raised, he led them to believe that he had a mining right."
At the end of the long written decision, Judge MacAskill states: "Although the evidence is circumstantial and much less voluminous than the evidence against his father, I am satisfied that Morgan Saxton was so closely involved in the mining operation that it is inconceivable that he was not fully aware of the covert nature of the operation and that he did not know that the mining was being carried out illegally, without the knowledge and consent of the true owners."
The verdicts were due at 10am but had to be put off when the huge crowd turned up to one of Christchurch's smallest courtrooms. Another larger court was found for the session 90 minutes later.
Judge MacAskill told the gallery he accepted they were there to see a case of importance but asked them to remain quiet because a jury was deliberating in another trial in the jury room next door.
The crowd did remain quiet as he delivered his judgment. His detailed reasons were set out in a very large written decision issued later to the parties and media.
Judge MacAskill remanded both men for sentence on December 3, and allowed bail.
He called for pre-sentence reports, but did not ask for a reparation report at this stage.
He said he hoped the men could meet with Ngai Tahu tribal officials to sort out how much greenstone was involved.
The pair were originally accused of stealing $800,000 worth of stone over a 14-year period, but it is not yet known what the value of the stone was under the joint charge they have been convicted on.
- NZPA
