Watson yes, his boat no, says water taxi driver

By Alison Horwood and Eugene Bingham

WELLINGTON - Water taxi driver Guy Wallace has identified Scott Watson as the last person he saw with Olivia Hope and Ben Smart, but has ruled out Watson's yacht Blade as the boat he dropped them at.

On his second day of evidence, Mr Wallace said he identified Watson in a police montage of photographs as the man he saw boarding a yacht with the young couple early on New Year's Day, 1998.

Watson denies murdering the couple and his trial in the High Court at Wellington is in its seventh week.

Mr Wallace told prosecutor Paul Davison, QC, that he recognised Watson's eyes and his "mistrusting look."

When asked how sure he was it was the same man, Mr Wallace said: "Very sure."

But during cross-examination from defence counsel Mike Antunovic, he admitted that at the depositions hearing he had ruled out Watson when shown a photo of him taken about 10 pm on New Year's Eve.

Mr Antunovic: What is your recollection of what you said at depositions about the man in the middle of the photograph having any connection to the man in the Naiad [water taxi]?

Mr Wallace: At the end, summing up, I said no.

Mr Antunovic: You virtually ruled him out as being the man in the Naiad, didn't you?

Mr Wallace: From the number of questions I was asked, yes.

He also agreed he remembered the man in the Naiad had longer hair and more facial hair.

Earlier, Mr Wallace was asked about an interview he did with a television reporter, during which he saw footage of Watson.

He said Watson was not the man he dropped off with Olivia and Ben.

Asked why he had ruled Watson out, he said: "She asked if the man in the Naiad was the same man, and I said from that footage I would have to say no. The video footage I considered to be too unclear for a yes-no answer."

Mr Wallace said again yesterday that the yacht he saw Olivia and Ben board with the man was a two-masted ketch. In fact, he said, the only similarity between it and Blade was that they both floated.

The Crown has told the jury there is no compelling evidence that the ketch exists, and Mr Wallace left the couple at Watson's single-masted sloop.

Under cross-examination, Mr Wallace agreed with Mr Antunovic that Blade was too small, the wrong shape, did not have portholes and was not made of wood.

It did not have a second mast, or a lee-cloth or flexi-rail, and the transom was the wrong shape.

He told the court he had tried to recall the name of the boat many times, but could only remember it contained the sound "zee."

Mr Wallace told the court that for most of the party he worked behind the main bar at Furneaux Lodge, and in the early hours of New Year's Day made about five trips in the Naiad to drop people to their boats.

After questioning from Justice Heron, Mr Wallace said the boat he dropped the pair off at was rafted in a group of at least three, and was on the outside.

He agreed that although he rejected the claim that Blade was the boat, the ketch he remembers and Blade both had a bowsprit.

Witnesses were also called to give evidence about sightings of boats leaving Endeavour Inlet early on New Year's Day.

Bryan Scott Campbell, of Wellington, said he awoke to go to the toilet and went up on deck of the yacht he was staying on with friends.

From their mooring in Punga Cove, he watched a "sailboat" heading out towards Queen Charlotte Sound. It did not have a sail up, but he noticed a mast light.

Jeremy Vincent Grant Brown, of Christchurch, was camping with other youths on a beach near the lodge. He also noticed a yacht with a mast light. Under cross-examination, he conceded there might have been two masts.

Warren Jeffrey Cox said he noticed two yachts and a launch heading towards the inlet as he sat on the back of a fishing boat waiting for the sun to rise.