Court told: It's not P, it's an energy drink

The Far North man told police he was just trying to make an energy drink when police found equipment used to make methamphetamine, the High Court has heard. File photo

A Far North man claims he was just trying to make an energy drink when police discovered equipment used to manufacture methamphetamine in his house, the High Court has been told.

Crown prosecutor Mike Smith told a jury in the High Court at Whangarei yesterday that Linton McIntyre, 50, was spoken during a police investigation into the manufacture of methamphetamine, or P, in the mid-Far North in 2009.

McIntyre has denied charges of attempting to manufacture methamphetamine, possession of equipment to make P and possession of precursor substances.

Mr Smith said police searched McIntyre's house near Moerewa and found chemicals, utensils and equipment.

On December 21, 2009, police had gone to the house and saw two pots bubbling away and a pink liquid evaporating in the sun.

Mr Smith said officers moved back and called a specialist unit.

When spoken to, McIntyre claimed he making an energy drink he had been producing for years from a recipe given to him.

The pots were part of extracting pseudoephedrine from pharmacy substances such as cold and flu medicines, Mr Smith told the jury.

Police also recovered buckets, glassware and equipment used to manufacture the drug from sheds at the property.

Mr Smith said McIntyre knew the items recovered by police were used to produce the drug, although the law did not require McIntyre to know the chemical formula for making methamphetamine.

Earlier Justice Peter Woodhouse urged the jury to keep an open mind and to reach their decision solely on the evidence before the court.

The trial is set down for a week.