Final drugs ring offender loses last appeal
The final offender in the Operation Granite drugs conspiracy has lost his last appeal bid and his sentencing has been set for this month, 14 months after his trial in the High Court at Christchurch.
The Crown alleged that John Douglas McKenzie, 65, a retired farmer, had loaned money to finance the methamphetamine production and distribution operation busted in June 2010.
At that time, the police swooped on 13 properties in Christchurch, Lyttelton, and Ashburton at the end of a six-week surveillance investigation.
Several of those arrested pleaded guilty, but five went on trial before Justice Christian Whata in September 2012. McKenzie was convicted of being part of the drugs conspiracy but his sentencing has been delayed by a series of appeals while others were sentenced.
The ringleader of the conspiracy, 32-year-old Matthew Allen Newton, was jailed for nine years seven months.
McKenzie took an appeal to the Court of Appeal, and then sought leave to take a further appeal to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has declined leave to hear the appeal and released its decision this week.
The Crown alleged that McKenzie had loaned Newton $180,000 at 80 percent interest with no security to finance the drugs operation, and he was found guilty by the jury after a trial that went on for 23 days.
The Crown also referred to an undated note found at McKenzie’s address, which it attributed to Newton, referring to part repayment of the loan – $50,000 – and further manufacture of methamphetamine.
The Crown said Newton was unemployed at the time and there was no evidence of any other source of income to repay the loan, and that cash totalling $37,970 found in McKenzie’s possession was bound with the same type of rubber bands used for other wads of cash found as part of the drugs conspiracy.
Defence counsel Jonathan Eaton QC submitted that the Court of Appeal had not considered evidence that McKenzie had made a series of very high interest short term loans to Newton and his father. He said the loan could not amount to reasonable evidence that McKenzie was involved in the conspiracy.
He said the note had come into existence months after the loan, there was no evidence of it being written or given to McKenzie, and it did not prove continuing involvement in the conspiracy.
The Supreme Court accepted the Crown submission that the “probative value” of the note was high, and supported the Court of Appeal’s analysis that the verdict was not unreasonable.
McKenzie’s sentencing is now set for the High Court in Christchurch on November 20.
Category: News
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