Millionaire's gay rape charge dropped in Vanuatu

A gay rape case against a Wellington property millionaire has been dropped by Vanuatu police due to a lack of evidence, it was reported today.

Mt Victoria backpacker owner James Bernard Quin was due to go to trial on Monday and faced seven charges including rape, indecent assault and possession of cannabis.

But his Vanuatu-based New Zealand lawyer Nigel Morrison told The Dominion Post newspaer that police in Port Vila withdrew the charges last week.

A Fijian crewman, 21, and an 18-year-old Vanuatu man complained to police about activities on board the Marie Chantal between March 5 and 6. The 18-year-old reportedly swum ashore and told police he had been raped.

Mr Quin, who owns Wellington property worth more than $6 million, vehemently denied the charges, saying the sex was consensual.

He is also a successful thoroughbred owner and breeder.

Police dropped the cannabis charge after the legality of the search warrant, which turned up the drug, was challenged, said Mr Morrison.

Vanuatu police in charge of the case could not be reached for comment yesterday. But Mr Morrison said video images, which police had cited as evidence of the rape claims, supported Mr Quin's claim that sex was not forced upon either man.

"They were all entirely supportive of what we said. It was consensual male sex," he said.

"The boys (eventually) acknowledged the fact that what they had said originally was not entirely true and as a result the police realised that they couldn't sensibly proceed."

If Mr Quin had been convicted he faced up to 10 years in a rundown Vanuatu prison. He had previously said he would rather die than face 10 years in such conditions.

He said the Fijian crewman had known Mr Quin for more than a year. Following his acquittal Mr Quin had set sail on the Marie Chantal, which his bail conditions had stopped him from using.

Considering what Mr Quin had been through, he was doing well, Mr Morrison said. "I think he's managed to keep his perspective. Amazingly enough he's not tainted by Vanuatu."

- NZPA