Veteran, 80, fined for moonshine operation

An 80-year-old returned serviceman who sold home-made alcohol from his garage in Hastings was today fined $1200 and placed under community supervision.

Edwin Lowry Wilson earlier admitted keeping and displaying liquor for sale and two charges of selling alcohol without a licence under the Sale of Liquor Act.

Hastings District Court Judge Bridget Macintosh said Wilson had been running a small liquor business from his home, selling assorted bottles of whisky, vodka and gin for $20 a bottle. He told customers the alcohol was 40 per cent proof.

Police had been alerted to Wilson's activities by others in the community and had used underage volunteers and a policewoman to buy alcohol from him on several occasions in April this year.

Wilson told police that after his wife died about two years ago, he had begun restoring a Model A Ford car and was using the proceeds of the alcohol sale to pay for that and to fund his next batch of brewing.

Wilson said he drank only whisky and consumed two glasses a night to help him sleep.

He had been making liquor for about 20 years but had only begun selling it in the past two years.

Judge Macintosh said Wilson was seen as having a low risk of reoffending but the aggravating feature of his offending was that it involved selling alcohol to minors.

She fined Wilson $200 on each of six breaches of the Sale of Liquor Act and placed him under community supervision for six months.

- NZPA