Weka witness 'mysteriously vanishes' in New Zealand

A Stewart Island man's defence was hindered yesterday after his star witness, a weka, mysteriously disappeared. In the Invercargill District Court, Anthony Phillip Musson, 49, self-employed, of Halfmoon Bay, defended himself on a charge of using indecent language on a telephone with intent to offend between April 10 and June 11.

Inland Revenue employee Robert John Kelly said Musson left numerous messages for him at work after hours, including 41 in an 11-day period during Easter. Two in particular, which included various offensive words and phrases, caused him to become concerned about the safety of himself and his colleagues, he said.

Musson admitted making the calls but said he was doing it to scare off prowlers who were trespassing on his property. The intruders were appearing on a regular basis and the best way of scaring them off was to open the window and yell and scream down the telephone, Musson said.



When asked by Judge Graeme Noble why he had phoned Mr Kelly and not police, Musson said the prowlers could have been police themselves and Mr Kelly was probably instructing the trespassers to be on his property. "If it's a government department standing outside the window, well maybe they need to re-instruct their government department members on what they're doing," he said.

After cross-examination, Judge Noble asked Musson if he would like to call any witnesses. Unfortunately, Musson said, his one witness had disappeared in mysterious circumstances. "It's not a pet but it's a weka, but it has gone missing," he said.

Judge Noble rejected Musson's evidence, stating he had been evasive with questions and the messages had had a real effect on Mr Kelly. "It's difficult to determine whether he's serious about this or these things in general are based on delusional beliefs." Musson was convicted and fined $850.