5 Mar 2012

Crown presents last witness in raids case

7:03 pm on 5 March 2012

The Crown has presented evidence from its last witness in the case against four people accused of establishing a military-style training camp in the Te Urewera National Park in the Bay of Plenty.

Tame Iti, Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara, Urs Signer and Emily Bailey are charged with participating in an organised crime group and with firearm offences in relation to police raids in the Bay of Plenty, Auckland and Wellington in 2007.

All accused pleaded not guilty when the trial began at the Auckland High Court in February.

One of the Crown's final witnesses on Monday was a scientist from Environmental Science and Research who said bottles seized by police could have been used as Molotov cocktails.

In a statement read to the court, she said she tested 17 glass beer bottles seized in 2007. Many had mixtures of diesel and petrol in them, had soot and burn marks on the outside and had fabric stuffed in their necks.

Earlier, a detective talked about going undercover on a website administered by a defendant and having an online conversation about topics that included anarchist movements in Auckland.

The court was also told that police investigated a car owned by former Green Party MP Nandor Tanczos.

A detective told the court that officers investigated cars seen in the Ruatoki region for possible associations with their inquiry.

Under cross-examination, the detective agreed that he had checked out a car in Ngaruwahia in 2007 because it had been witnessed in an area of interest. He said one of the owners was Mr Tanczos.

A defence lawyer told the court the incident was an example of how many people the police inquiry looked at.