4.00pm
The identity Mr X, the target of an alleged kidnapping plot last year, was unveiled at the High Court in Wellington today at the trial of John Burrett and Matthew Payne.
The Court of Appeal ordered that suppression of William (Bill) Trotter's name be lifted when he gave evidence this afternoon.
Mr
Trotter, who is the son of Sir Ron Trotter and a prominent financier, gave evidence today that he had never heard of Burrett or Payne until police took him into protective custody on July 22 last year.
He issued a statement saying he had no desire for publicity about the event and neither he nor his family would be giving interviews.
"I believe that people in the circumstance in which I have been placed should have the basic right o protect their privacy," he said.
Burrett, 53, an Upper Hutt lawyer, and Payne, 22, have pleaded not guilty to conspiring to kidnap with intent to hold for ransom or with intent to confine and having a swan-off shotgun.
Armed police ambushed Burrett and Payne at Wellington's Botanic Gardens on July 22 last year after pest control staff found a trapdoor to an underground bunker in a reserve north of Upper Hutt on July 10.
Mr Burrett, who is defending himself, told police he and Payne were just playing "an incredibly stupid game".
Mr Trotter is a member of the Business Round Table and on the board of directors of several companies including First NZ Capital Group and Sky City. He is also a director of the New Zealand Stock Exchange.
- HERALD STAFF
