KEY POINTS:
The trial of two men charged with blackmail for allegedly trying to ransom a dead man's ashes failed to get under way as scheduled in the High Court at Hamilton yesterday.
Douglas Morris, 30, and William Leathers, 48, both of Rotorua, are accused of trying to extort money
for the return of a $64,000 Mercedes Benz, stolen with the ashes in a special container in the boot.
Just over a year after the crime, their trial was expected to take most of this week, but before a jury could be selected, Morris sacked his lawyer and Leathers pleaded guilty.
The pair were indicted on joint counts of blackmail - which carries a maximum penalty of up to 14 years in jail - and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Leathers is also denying related charges of aggravated assault, burglary and unlawfully taking a motor vehicle.
Justice Alan MacKenzie granted Tauranga lawyer Tony Balme leave to withdraw after Morris confirmed yesterday that he no longer wanted him on the case. Asked by the judge if he was ready to proceed to trial without counsel, Morris sought an adjournment, saying he had spoken with another lawyer.
Tauranga prosecutor Simon Bridges said the Crown had come prepared for a trial and was greatly inconvenienced.
"Whilst I cannot consent to an adjournment, neither can I vigorously oppose it," he said.
Justice MacKenzie told Morris he must understand how unsatisfactory it was for the trial not to go ahead. He adjourned the matter for a callover on October 11, but warned Morris, who was remanded in custody, against any further delay.
"You must have instructed counsel so you can be ready to proceed."
When the charges were put to Leathers, his guilty pleas were barely audible. He was remanded on continued bail for sentencing in the High Court at Rotorua on November 1.
Despite Leathers' alleged offending being less than that of his co-accused, Mr Bridges opposed bail as Leathers had been convicted on serious charges.
But Nicholas Dutch, also a Tauranga lawyer, said Leathers had "proved himself" while on bail for the past year. He had a job and family, had just had his first grandchild and was not a flight risk.
The "inevitable sentence" would be imprisonment, Mr Dutch conceded.
Justice MacKenzie said that, "somewhat unusually," he was prepared to bail Leathers in the meantime.
At depositions in the Tauranga District Court in January, the prosecution revealed that a locked late-model champagne-coloured Mercedes was stolen from a Mt Maunganui driveway on the Saturday evening of September 23 last year. The holiday home where it was parked was also burgled.
On the following Monday morning the owner started getting text messages from a stolen mobile phone.
In all, there were more than 40 messages trying to negotiate a ransom in the "grands" (up to $15,000) for the return of the car and the urn in the boot.
They were recovered three days later when police set up a sting to catch the blackmailer.
- NZPA
