Green MP to stand trial

WELLINGTON - A Wellington District Court judge has ruled that Green MP Sue Bradford should stand trial on charges of trespassing on Parliament during a demonstration in April 1998.

In a decision issued yesterday, Judge Patrick Keane declined an application by defence lawyer Tony Ellis for a stay of prosecution.

Bradford, her husband Miles, New Zealand Trade Union Federation secretary Michael Gilchrist and six others have pleaded not guilty to charges of trespass.

Mr Ellis applied for the stay on the grounds that the offences were trivial and there had been undue delay.

Judge Keane, in declining the application, instructed the court registrar to allocate a fixture for the hearing of the case "as soon as practicable."

Outside the court, Mr Ellis said that originally 11 people had been charged but one had the charges dismissed. A man who had faced charges in relation to three separate incidents, including disorder offences, had been discharged.

"It is difficult to see how people only involved in one incident could receive anything more than a section 19 discharge," Mr Ellis said.

"It seems an awful waste of money to spend a week defending people who might at worse receive a slap on the wrist."

- NZPA