By Jason Collie
Fishing guru Bill Hohepa was handed back a token of friendship by an angry widow after he was cleared of responsibility for a fatal boat trip.
The fishing personality - his real name is Wayne Wills - had given Lynn Philpot a Maori bone carving at the funeral of
her husband, Keith, but yesterday she said: "He's no friend of mine."
An Auckland District Court jury had found Wills not guilty of causing unnecessary risk to people and property after Mr Philpot drowned on the 1996 Northland fishing trip.
Wills, who is 52, said he would try to get on with his life, but a tearful Mrs Philpot was devastated.
After Wills was acquitted, she angrily gave him an envelope containing the bone carving.
"As far as I am concerned, he is no friend of mine or my family," Mrs Philpot said. "I put it in an envelope [after the funeral] and was determined I was going to give it back to him one way or the other.
"This is not the ending I wanted," she said, before being led away by friends.
Mr Philpot, 53, was one of six passengers on the Hunky Dory, a 5.5m aluminium boat piloted by Wills that capsized during a rock fishing trip in Doubtless Bay on June 25, 1996.
Some of the passengers swam to shore, but Mr Philpot drowned.
Wills and another man were later picked up after more than eight hours in the water.
The prosecution said Wills should not have made the trip in such rough weather.
The jury deliberated for more than 11 hours.
Wills said outside court: "It was a tragic accident. There is not much more I can say, but to get on with life.
"I understand Mrs Philpot is not happy, but it was an accident and I tried the best I could."
Asked what he would do now, he said: "Back to sea and enjoying what I do."
Judge Bruce Buckton said he agreed with the verdict and added: "One feels a great deal of sympathy for Mr Philpot's family, but sea accidents do happen and they are just that - accidents."
Pictured: Wayne Wills (Bill Hohepa) and an unidentified friend after the verdict. HERALD PICTURE / KENNY RODGER
