All charges against a wine-maker allegedly involved with mislabelling bottles have been dismissed.
The four charges were dismissed in the High Court at Auckland yesterday after Justice David Morris found that some of the alleged crimes happened too long ago for charges to proceed under the Food Act 1981 and Fair Trading Act 1986.
The company, which has name suppression, went to the High Court after District Court Judge Avinash Deobhakta earlier refused to dismiss the charges.
Defence lawyer Raynor Asher, QC, appealed on the grounds of excessive delays and time bars.
"My client ... had nothing to do with the marketing," Mr Asher said. "His involvement stopped in 1996."
Prosecutor Phil Hamlin replied that at least some of the alleged crimes were recent enough to warrant charges going ahead.
In summing up, Justice Morris said the company allegedly made wine for another defendant, which sold it with incorrect labels from November 29, 1996, to September 1, 1998. Food Act charges must be laid within a year of the alleged crime, and the first such charges laid against the wine-maker were on August 31, 1999.
Justice Morris agreed with Judge Deobhakta's decision that there were no grounds for dismissing the charges due to delays, but he found that some of the alleged offences happened too long ago for the charges to go ahead.
Justice Morris then dismissed the charges for being time-barred.
Outside the court, Mr Hamlin said an appeal might be lodged.
Label case against wine-maker dismissed
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.