Man pleads guilty to posing as Fisheries officer

MASTERTON - A man charged with impersonating a Ministry of Fisheries officer has pleaded guilty in Masterton District Court.

Ronald Gordon Milner, 72, a retired builder of Wainuiomata, Wellington, told the court that on December 28, 2004, he was at Taylor's Bay at Ngawi about 2pm and saw two Chinese families fishing for paua.

Milner said he watched them for some time "randomly harvesting" the shellfish and said he intended to make a citizen's arrest for the ministry. He approached the group identifying himself as an honorary fisheries officer.

Catherine Vailahi, acting for the ministry, said Milner's motives might have been for the best, but the ministry did not want members of the public pretending they were fisheries officers.

Judge Ian Mill convicted Milner and ordered him to appear for sentence if called upon in the next six months.

- NZPA