KEY POINTS:
A kidnapping charge has been dropped against a teenager originally said to have forced a taxi driver at knife-point to provide the transport for a crime rampage.
The youth, Thomas Joseph Hancy, 17, has now been released on bail on a remaining charge of stealing liquor from a city convenience store.
Defence counsel Liz Bulger today told Christchurch District Court Judge Stephen Erber: "The taxi driver has now been reinterviewed and there are aspects of his account which don't support the charge of kidnapping."
Police prosecutor Nigel Wolland confirmed police did not want to go ahead with the kidnapping charge.
At the time of the arrest of Hancy and a girl who appeared in the Youth Court, the taxi driver gave a media interview in which he said they had pulled a knife in his van and forced him to drive to several liquor outlets while they attempted to get more alcohol.
He said the knife was pointed at his face during the 45 minute incident, until he managed to get away when the pair got out of the vehicle in Casebrook.
Miss Bulger said today Hancy would deny the charge of theft and he was remanded to a status hearing on August 16.
Judge Erber imposed strict bail conditions including a curfew, reporting daily to the Papanui police, not contacting the alleged co-offender or prosecution witnesses, and staying away from three shops.
- NZPA
