By BRIDGET CARTER
On the day he was declared officially innocent, all Lawrence Lloyd wanted to do was to go back up north and not be stared at as a killer.
Just moments after the Court of Appeal quashed his conviction for the manslaughter of a former girlfriend, he said:"I can cruise around town and people won't have this sly look on their face, thinking I am a murderer."
Mr Lloyd, 52, said he had not given any thought to compensation for the seven years he spent in jail.
All that matters, he said, was justice. That came yesterday when Justice Robert Chambers declared his conviction for killing Katherine Sheffield officially overturned.
"It is a good day. It is about time."
Mr Lloyd had confessed to killing Miss Sheffield 10 years ago after they had been drinking and he passed out and woke up next to her dead body.
Police have charged Noel Clement Rogers, 31, Mr Lloyd's nephew, with her murder.
Dressed in a tweed jacket, smart shirt and his best jeans, Mr Lloyd hesitantly answered questions for reporters.
"I have felt really, really angry but that anger has gone away. It is a different emotion now. A lot of that is sadness."
Mr Lloyd said the publicity did not sit comfortably with him.
He wanted to go home and feed his dog, which had been roaming around his half-built home in isolated Kohumaru, about 6km south of Mangonui.
He also wanted to finish re-building his home.
He might buy a house bus and he looked forward to fishing.
During the Court of Appeal hearing yesterday, Mr Lloyd's lawyer, Ken Bailey, said the essence of his appeal was that Mr Lloyd was not Katherine Sheffield's killer and that in June this year the man who had been charged with her murder had provided an extensive affidavit.
Not all of the confessions that made up the evidence in Mr Lloyd's manslaughter case were made by him, Mr Bailey said. The court ordered a retrial for Mr Lloyd, but outside court, Mr Bailey said that would probably be just a formality.
He said he agreed to it because things were wrong with the alleged confessions made by Mr Lloyd to police.
His belief was the evidence would be thrown out and the judge would find there was no longer enough evidence to put Mr Lloyd on trial.
Mr Lloyd said he first found out about Rogers being charged through radio reports and soon after people came over to celebrate with wine and beer.
But he said he would not be celebrating the overturning of his conviction because "somebody else is getting done for it".
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
Latest from New Zealand
Salmon batches recalled due to listeria risk
People who have bought the Matakana Smokehouse products can take them back for a refund.