A self-proclaimed West Coast "Oliver Cromwell" has lost his battle in the Court of Appeal.
Robert Frank Terry spoke on his own behalf at the appeal hearing in Wellington last month and drew comparisons between himself and English parliamentary champion Oliver Cromwell.
Terry, of Reefton, appealed against a 1998 District Court jury's verdict that he was guilty of threatening to kill the Buller District Council's general manager.
He was sentenced to nine months in jail.
Terry had been in a dispute about the sale of his property.
It was alleged he threatened to explode a bomb at the council building in Westport but Terry said his reference to the Oklahoma City bombing was an illustration of what could happen when communication between a citizen and government breaks down.
The Court of Appeal dismissed Terry's appeal, rejecting his arguments that he was convicted under the wrong section of the Crimes Act, that the Crown had not proved he made the phone call containing the threat and that any threat was not meant to be taken seriously.
Terry was able to appeal so long after the case was heard only because his first appeal, in November 1998, was dismissed without a proper hearing after he was refused legal aid to have a lawyer argue his appeal.
- NZPA
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