Napier bids for pardon after cannabis prosecution

A Napier man whose farm was confiscated after a cannabis prosecution is to make a bid for a pardon.

Shaun Allen may also launch a possible prosecution against the police and claims that a jury was manipulated to get a verdict against him.

The court case resulted in the loss of his farm, the Crown's first property seizure under the Proceeds of Crimes Act. He was also sentenced to 18 months in jail.

Mr Allen has always denied knowledge of the 1000-plus cannabis plants police say they found in January 1993 on the bush-covered, 340ha Esk Valley farm, which he had bought less than six months earlier.