Judge pits his integrity against witness's

Michael Lance denies he 'keyed' the car blocking access to his apartment. Photo / NZPA

A prominent former judge accused of gouging a car 20 times with a key as it blocked his driveway challenged the integrity of the man who claimed he witnessed it, a court heard yesterday.

Police allege Michael Lance,73, used the key to intentionally damage a Volkswagen Golf as it blocked the entrance to his $1 million Browns Bay apartment a year ago.

Owner Richard Cummins said $4000 worth of damage was done and he had to pay the $400 insurance excess.

Yesterday at a defended hearing in the North Shore District Court, Constable Lyndon Large said a diner from a nearby restaurant, David Burn, told him he watched Lance "key" the car.

But when Mr Large told Lance that was a stupid and immature thing to do, the judge denied damaging the car.

"He said, 'I didn't do that.' He said, 'I'm a judge. I wouldn't do that and my integrity would outdo that man's."

Lance's lawyer, John Haigh, QC, said his client "completely denied" Mr Burn's version of events, but agreed he had run his hand over the scratches.

Mr Large, when asked, said he had not taken the key away for examination, and told Mr Haigh he had "decided [he] believed" Mr Burn's account.

Mr Burn told the court Mr Large was speaking with a tow-truck driver when he saw Lance scratch the car with his keys.

Tow-truck driver Brendon Price told the court all of the scratches appeared to have come from the same key.

He said that while he was not a panelbeater, he considered himself knowledgeable in the field as his parents had owned a panel-beating business for 30 years.

Mr Price said he had heard Mr Burn tell police he had watched Lance scratch the car.

"He [Lance] stood back and said 'I wouldn't do that'," the tow-truck driver told the court. "He definitely stood back with an almost shocked look on his face."

Mr Price said he had noticed Lance hanging around at the back of the Volkswagen and found that unusual. "I do this quite a lot but I have never had anyone so inquisitive or hanging around the car."

Mr Price told police prosecutor Sergeant Mike Morgan that the scratches were fresh.

"I ran a finger along the scratch and when I lifted it, I could see dust on either side and where the scratch was there was no dust."

Lance is charged with wilful damage. Mr Morgan told Judge Kevin Phillips the police case related to 20 individual scratches.

Constable Paula Enoka, also called as a witness, said Lance told her the driver of the Volkswagen was probably an Asian woman.

"The gentleman [Lance] had said to me the driver was probably a woman and also that she was probably Asian," Ms Enoka told the court.

"I laughed his comments off. I didn't agree or disagree because I didn't know who the owner was."

A number of notes written by people whose access was blocked and infringement notices that had been placed under the car's windscreen were presented as evidence in court.

- ADDITIONAL REPORTING: NZPA