Public face masked criminal's private life

Wanda van Niekerk ( inset L) and Moana Blake from the Pukekohe Youth Centre said it would be hard to find a local who hadn't met Pulman. Photo / Richard Robinson

His public face was one of charity - Saturday mornings spent selling vegetables donated by local farmers to raise money to take Pukekohe's at-risk youths on leadership camps.

But privately, for almost two years pharmacist Ross Pulman was supplying gangs with over-the-counter medicines he knew were being made into P.

Pulman, charged with nine others, admitted a representative charge of manufacturing the drug when he appeared in the High Court at Auckland a week ago.

Pukekohe residents were stunned by the news that an upstanding, church-going citizen who detested drugs - the founder of a charitable trust, the owner of a rest home, long-standing Rotarian and Lifeline volunteer - was helping gangs to produce a notorious drug known for destroying lives.

Pulman, a 69-year-old father of three and grandfather to six, still has many supporters.

When the Herald visited his home, no one answered the door, but a bouquet of flowers with a note of support sat on his front porch. A van marked with the Pukekohe Youth Council logo, which Pulman lends to community groups, was parked in the driveway.

Some people the Herald spoke to were shocked and others disappointed, but no one said a bad word about him.

Pulman and his counsellor wife, Helen, founded the local Youth Council 30 years ago. They own the hall where youths drop by after school to play table tennis and keep out of trouble. Those who know Pulman say they are stunned.

Like many others, Allan Currie, who has taken over as chairman of the Pukekohe Youth Council, described Pulman as a generous man with an equally giving wife.

"He's the sort of guy who gets up at 4 o'clock in the morning and goes out and collects vegetables. His whole life has been dedicated to youth work," Mr Currie said.

"Everything the two have done in their lives has been community-based - that's why everything that's happened is such a tragic shock. It's totally contrary to Ross's character. It's mind-boggling."

Moana Blake, programme co-ordinator at the Pukekohe Youth Centre, said it would be hard to find someone in town who hadn't met Pulman.

Former Pukekohe resident Joe Schumacher, now 35 and living in Hobart, went tramping, bike-riding and kayaking with Pulman most weekends as a teenager. He described him as a completely selfless man.

"Where I am today is no doubt in part due to his influence.

"In my years as a rather impressionable teenager, I'm pretty sure that if I hadn't been out tramping with Ross most weekends I probably would have been getting into mischief."

A woman the Herald spoke to had worked with Pulman at Unichem Pukekohe, where the offences took place, for 30 years.

"He is a nice guy. He took the youths away on tramps, did so much for them, and yet he was putting this product back out into the community. He was trying to save one lot and yet ... It's just unreal."

Pulman's lawyer declined to comment. Pulman will be sentenced in July.