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Criminal psychologist on the mushroom trial - why were we all so fascinated / what could have driven her to do it? Video / Herald NOW
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RNZ News
38 minutes ago
- RNZ News
Hastings man Antony Quinney given home detention for indecent conduct with boy
By Ric Stevens, Open Justice reporter of Antony Quinney (inset) appeared for sentencing in the Napier District Court after being found guilty of sexual offences against a young boy. Photo: Open Justice Warning: This story contains details of sexual offending against a child and may be upsetting. A middle-aged man with no previous criminal history will spend the next 10 months wearing an ankle bracelet after a jury found him guilty of sexual offending against a young boy. Hastings man Anthony Raymond Quinney, 50, photographed the boy with his togs down while on an outing to Cape Kidnappers. He later indecently touched him in a bed at a motel. The Napier District Court was told on Thursday that Quinney still denied that he committed the offences after facing two charges of doing an indecent act with a boy under 12. However, a jury found earlier that Quinney did offend against the boy during a birthday trip in December 2021. "The jury did not accept your version of events was ... reasonably plausible," Judge Bridget Mackintosh told him. Judge Mackintosh said Quinney had no criminal record, financially supported his parents and had been a generous donor to charity. She told Quinney that it was difficult to see where the offending had come from, because in many respects he had been "doing the right thing". However, she said on the trip to Cape Kidnappers that Quinney had taken the boy, who was not related to him, to a secluded spot. He asked him to remove his togs and photographed him. He told the boy that he needed to practise taking photos. He later took the boy and another child that was with them to a motel, where age-appropriate activities were set up for them, including video games. However, Quinney insisted they sleep in the same bed, where indecent touching took place. Judge Mackintosh said the offending had "taken its toll" on the boy's family and a victim impact statement from his mother said the boy is now anxious and withdrawn, and demonstrating a lack of trust in men. He is receiving counselling and therapy and the "ripple effect" of the offending is affecting others in the family. Judge Mackintosh sentenced Quinney to 10 months of home detention, 80 hours of community work and ordered that he pay $5000 to the boy in reparation for emotional harm. She suggested the money might be used for continuing counselling. The judge also imposed six months of conditions after the home detention finishes, including having no unsupervised contact with people under the age of 16. Judge Mackintosh declined to add Quinney's name to the child sex offender register, saying he would be intensely monitored during his home detention and post-detention conditions. * This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald . If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
Otago Daily Times
an hour ago
- Otago Daily Times
Missing German backpacker's van found
A missing German backpacker's abandoned van has been found after she disappeared while travelling solo in Australia's outback. Carolina Wilga was last seen in the general store in the West Australia wheatbelt town of Beacon about noon on June 29, some 300km northeast of Perth. The 26-year-old, who had been travelling and working in Australia for about two years, told friends she intended to explore regional WA. Her disappearance has triggered a nationwide search amid concerns for her safety. Police found Ms Wilga's Mitsubishi van on Thursday about 150km from Beacon. Carolina Wilga at a service station. Photo: WA Police Force/YouTube "The vehicle was located abandoned in the area, in the northeast Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, and is believed to have suffered mechanical issues," a spokesman said. Ms Wilga was not found. The temperature in Dalwallinu, near Beacon, dropped to 2.6°C overnight, with more cold weather on the way. "The search to locate her is continuing, with additional resources being deployed to the area," police said. Investigators previously said they did not believe Ms Wilga was the victim of a crime. "It's certainly unexplained her disappearance and we are taking it very seriously," Detective Senior Sergeant Katharine Venn said. "Her family are understandably distraught, very worried, as any of us would be with a young family member the other side of the world, missing in such unusual circumstances." Det Snr Sgt Venn described the region as "very remote". "The actual town site is very small and when you travel out there are some very picturesque spots and some quite inhospitable, rocky terrain," she said. Ms Wilga has a slim build, with frizzy or curly long, dark blonde hair and brown eyes, with several tattoos, including symbols on her left arm. She last had contact with friends on June 29 and had travelled through the towns of Toodyay and Dowerin, southwest of Beacon, earlier in the day. Ms Wilga's mother previously pleaded for anyone with information about her daughter to contact authorities. "Carolina is still sorely missed. If anyone has any information, please contact the police. Please keep your eyes open!!!", Katja Will said on a WA Police Facebook post. A Facebook page named Help Find Carolina Wilga has been set up. Karroun Hill Nature Reserve, at more than 300,000ha, is the largest nature reserve in the southwest of WA.
1News
an hour ago
- 1News
'So unexpected, so wrong': Investigators reflect on Rainbow Warrior bombing
News feature: On the 40th anniversary of the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior, key members of the investigation team reflect to Police Ten One Magazine on their roles in the landmark events. Late on Wednesday July 10, 1985, two explosions sank the Rainbow Warrior, the Greenpeace flagship moored at Marsden Wharf, Auckland. Most of the crew escaped, but photographer Fernando Pereira drowned while trying to retrieve equipment from his cabin. What was then the New Zealand police's biggest investigation exposed a complex sabotage plot sanctioned by the French Government in the hope of scuppering Greenpeace's high-profile campaign against its nuclear testing in the Pacific. Dawn ceremony marks 40 years since the Rainbow Warrior was attacked, killing Pernando Pereira. (Source: 1News) ADVERTISEMENT It involved multiple teams of agents and months of planning. It was exposed because of diligent detective work, sharp-eyed members of the public and considerable luck. It sparked an international crisis and brought an eventual 'Oui, we did it' from France. The French defence minister resigned, France's spymaster was sacked, two agents were jailed and two children were left without a father. "With all the mayhem and awful things going on around the world, one wonders why the Rainbow Warrior still pops up as a major incident – and not only in New Zealand," says retired Assistant Commissioner Allan Galbraith, who led the inquiry as a detective superintendent. "I think it's because it was so unusual, so unexpected and so wrong on the part of the French. "It's amazing that they even contemplated it as a good idea. Why did they do it? Why did they think it would solve problems for them? "The other thing that stood out about it was that they had the cheek to think they could do this in New Zealand and get away with it. They obviously thought this was a bit of a backwater in the South Pacific." Fernando Pereira drowned when the French intelligence agency (DGSE) detonated a bomb aboard the Rainbow Warrior. (Source: Supplied) ADVERTISEMENT The players in the sabotage plot — melodramatically titled Opération Satanique — were agents of the French spy agency Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure (DGSE). They included a woman who infiltrated Greenpeace in Auckland; and the crew of the yacht Ouvéa — three French combat divers and a doctor specialised in diving injuries — which arrived in Northland carrying equipment including mines, an inflatable boat and an outboard motor. The best-known to Kiwis were Commander Alain Mafart – another combat diver – and Captain Dominique Prieur, posing as Swiss couple Alain and Sophie Turenge, in a rented camper van. Three days before the bombing, more DGSE divers arrived in Auckland and lay low in another camper van while their commander lived it up in the Hyatt Hotel. By the time the mines exploded on the Rainbow Warrior's hull at 11.38 and 11.45pm on July 10, the Ouvéa had already sailed for Norfolk Island. The sabotage team headed south, enjoying a skiing break at Mt Hutt before flying out. Their commander, Lieutenant Colonel Louis-Pierre Dillais, was photographed riding a tourist jet boat. He spotted the camera too late and in the photo does not look happy about it. Even less happy were Mafart and Prieur, who police took into custody two days after the attack. ADVERTISEMENT People gathered in Auckland this morning for a dawn service 40 years since the bombing of the Greenpeace vessel in 1985. (Source: Breakfast) A homicide investigation was launched on July 11 after Navy divers established the blasts were external – it was an attack, not something gone wrong inside the vessel. "We had some good luck, but we also had bad luck in terms of what might have been – but that's the name of the game," said Galbraith. "They didn't only underestimate how New Zealand police would respond, they underestimated how New Zealand people would respond. "The general public were strongly interested and actively looking for information to pass to us." An early breakthrough was a case in point: members of Auckland Outboard Boating Club in Hobson's Bay — on alert after a series of thefts from boats – had reported suspicious behaviour about three hours before the explosions. Someone was seen dragging an inflatable boat on to the shore, and a Newmans' rental camper van was standing by. Gear was transferred to the van. It looked like the aftermath of a burglary. ADVERTISEMENT The infamous Newmans van. (Source: TVNZ) The suspicious boaties had time to take the van's registration number. This led directly to Mafart and Prieur, who were picked up as they tried to return the vehicle at Newmans in Auckland's Mount Wellington, on July 12. As publicity grew, and more and more evidence pointed to a French connection, reports of camper vans and French people behaving strangely poured in. They included a remarkably good account from witnesses to the transfer of gear from an Avis rental Commodore station wagon, linked to the Ouvéa, to the Newmans camper van, days before the bombing. Suspicious forestry workers in Te Puni Forest, Northland, took down the Commodore's registration number after seeing what seems to have been an abortive transfer attempt, when the vehicles missed each other. They noted an outboard motor in the back of the station wagon and later identified an Ouvéa crew member as being in the vehicle. Then a couple in Kaiwaka saw the successful transfer. They were able to identify Alain Mafart as the driver of the camper van. The investigation was also helped by evidence left at the scene. ADVERTISEMENT The saboteurs' getaway went wrong. They changed the time of the attack with the intent of avoiding casualties on board, but the tide was lower than planned for and they had trouble finding a place to come ashore. They left in a panic, abandoning the Zodiac inflatable, its outboard motor – witnesses heard the splash as it was dumped, allowing it to be retrieved from the harbour by police divers – and two oxygen bottles. The French saboteurs dumped their Zodiac inflatable, outboard motor, and two oxygen bottles. (Source: TVNZ) "The French left so many clues," says Galbraith. "That outboard motor was one because we traced it back to a purchase in London by one of their team. The oxygen bottles recovered in the harbour had French markings on them. "It was amazing. Even the worst criminals manage to cover their tracks better than that. "Because things went wrong, that connection with the French became very obvious. ADVERTISEMENT "Their plan wasn't inherently poor, it's just that it went wrong – and when it went wrong they didn't have any recovery possibilities." The investigation team quickly grew, reaching 130 at its height. The case presented unique challenges, at home and overseas. "It was an unusual investigation with a very difficult scene," says Allan. "Usually a major investigation has a scene which is static and secure. In this case, of course, the scene was at the bottom of the sea. "A major part of it had to be taken away – the boat had to be dry-docked – before the usual search could take place. "One thing worth mentioning is the dedication of the police dive team who spent weeks looking for forensic evidence at the scene, on the boat and under the boat, in very difficult midwinter conditions. "Their persistence was amazing, the way they stuck with it." ADVERTISEMENT A less glamorous side of the investigation involved scrutiny of border paperwork – including arrival cards for the 66,000 people who came to New Zealand between March and July 1985. From these the team built a picture of suspects' comings and goings. Maurice Whitham, Allan Galbraith's second-in-command, had day-to-day management of the investigation. Even 40 years later his recall of the case is encyclopaedic. As the inquiry was getting under way on July 11, there were a number of milestones: confirmation of external explosions; the report from the boaties; and a Customs report about the activities of the Ouvéa. At its peak, there were 130 people on the investigation team. (Source: Supplied) The inquiry was soon "running at 100mph," says Whitham, who started the inquiry as a detective senior sergeant but was a detective inspector by the end. "I was doing something like 60-odd job sheets a day for enquiries to follow up the information coming in. "We had no computers like now, of course, no electronics. We had a card index system with the standard offender-victim-scene categories. ADVERTISEMENT "We had no way of collating one lot of information with another lot. You couldn't just put in there 'Newmans camper van' and get all the sightings. It was a real manual, laborious system." Exhibits were recorded on the Whanganui computer, with a second record held manually. Just in case. The Auckland team was supplemented by investigators from other districts. "We had this big team of probably 100 detectives working in different offices in Central and we became a great team. There was a lot of camaraderie." There was also a lot of resources. "Anything we wanted, we got it" – from a fax machine and public service cars to free meals in the canteen and the secondment of French-speaking staff. It was, Allan Galbraith says, probably the one investigation in his career where money was no object. "Ken Thompson, the Commissioner of the day, more or less said to me 'Go for it, don't worry about what this is going to cost – we need to get on and do this' and that's what we did. "We had support from the Air Force in terms of moving people around. We sent 23 staff to nine different countries. ADVERTISEMENT "It was all done very quickly, well organised at the drop of a hat with full cooperation from the Defence folks, Foreign Affairs and everyone else who needed to be involved." A team flew to Norfolk Island, with a 24-hour window under Australian law to interview the Ouvéa crew and search the yacht. What the search threw up put the yacht's involvement beyond doubt, but it was too late – they could not legally hold the crew. They sailed before evidence could be analysed and warrants could be obtained. The yacht was scuttled and the crew transferred to the French submarine Rubis. The yacht Ouvéa. (Source: TVNZ) A team went to France, where a high degree of cooperation from local police suddenly stopped as the political dimension of the affair grew. A team member who visited the Rainbow Warrior to gather intel on the day of the attack was interviewed in Papeete. The doctor from the Ouvéa was found in a Sydney cinema. In many cases, evidence came too late and suspects returned to France, where they were out of reach. The skiing sabotage team flew out of New Zealand and vanished. ADVERTISEMENT The ones that didn't get away, Mafart and Prieur, faced the music alone. They were picked up at the Newmans rental depot in Mount Wellington, Auckland, returning the camper van days earlier than they had arranged to return it in Wellington. Newmans had been put on alert. The Mount Wellington office called when the pair arrived and a team led by Detective Sergeant Terry Batchelor dashed to get there as the office staff used delaying tactics. The Turenges, as they called themselves, underwent extensive interviews as Batchelor and the suspects team chipped away at their story. Handsome, debonair Neil Morris interviewed Sophie, while Batchelor, built like the proverbial brick ablutions facility, interviewed Alain. Sometimes they put them together to see how they interacted. Their Swiss passports were proven to be faked. The investigators picked them up on inconsistencies in their accounts of their time in New Zealand. But they gave little away, says Batchelor. "When you're used to dealing with burglars, murderers and thieves, they were clearly a cut above that. ADVERTISEMENT "They were cool and calm. They gave implausible answers to some of our questions but they never really admitted anything." Commander Alain Mafart – another combat diver – and Captain Dominique Prieur, posed as Swiss couple Alain and Sophie Turenge (Source: 1News) Little things didn't add up. Why did Alain speak English with an American accent if, as he said, he had only visited there? Why did the scars on his face and torso look more like combat wounds than botched surgery as he claimed? The pair admitted being on the waterfront on July 10, and said they helped a fisherman get an inflatable out of the water, then gave him a lift. So why did they disagree about whether he sat in the front or back? "Neil wasn't getting much out of her, and neither was I with him," says Batchelor. "He was as cool as he could possibly be. He was wearing a scarf around his neck which he would often twist, but he was unemotional, and cooperative to an extent." Even when confronted over the fake Swiss passports, Alain responded with a classic Gallic shrug – palms up, shoulders raised, and 'Pfffft'. ADVERTISEMENT "If he did that once he did it a thousand times." One time the cool exterior slipped was after Batchelor had dangled the prospect that Sophie might be able to go home in return for an admission. "He wasn't exactly aggressive, but he became assertive. He actually told me off. He said 'Do not make promises to my wife that you do not intend to keep'. "I said to him 'My concern is for the life of the man who has died and the children who don't have a father'. "I had a pen. I said 'I don't care this much' – and I broke the pen and threw the pieces to either side – 'I don't care this much about the woman you call your wife'. "It was a bit melodramatic." Mafart and Priuer faced the music alone. (Source: TVNZ) ADVERTISEMENT There was a lightbulb moment when Mafart spilled a drink on his trousers. He was upset and took great pains to mop it up. "I don't think it would have affected most people like that. It occurred to me that it was the sort of reaction you might expect from a military person about to go on parade." Before being formally arrested, the pair were billeted in a bugged motel room. They still gave little away, though there was a phone call seeking advice from 'Uncle Emile' in France. They had been held on charges – as the Turenges – relating to their fake passports. Eventually the growing evidence was such that they were charged with murder and other offences under their real names, which had been confirmed in August by the French Government's Tricot Report into the affair. Batchelor was a regular visitor to Mafart at Paremoremo Prison. "He didn't admit his involvement but one peculiar thing he said was that if they had been apprehended in a wilder country they would have been told 'If you don't tell the truth we'll take you out and shoot you'. "He put his hands together like he'd been handcuffed and said 'I would go out and be shot'. "Anyone could say that but I thought he actually meant it. They were well aware they were in a friendly country and we didn't behave like that." ADVERTISEMENT Another time, Batchelor asked Prieur why they had taken the van back to Newmans instead of dumping it and getting on a flight. "She said 'You would have blocked the airport'. I said 'We didn't even know who you were'. "That gave her quite a shock – I think she suddenly realised they had made a bad mistake." The trial was over before it began when Mafart and Prieur pleaded guilty to manslaughter and were sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment in November 1985. Infamously, under a UN-brokered deal, they were deported to the French Polynesian Hao Atoll to serve their sentences. Soon they were back in France, free and feted as heroes. Having been with Mafart and Prieur at the start of their involvement with police, Batchelor was also there at the end as one of two officers – with Detective Robin Borrie – escorting Prieur to Hao in 1986. He does not share the general anger about the deal which let the agents slip out of New Zealand custody, and questions the value of keeping them in prison for 10 years at Kiwi taxpayers' expense. ADVERTISEMENT "I can't speak for everyone, but I think the main victory was New Zealand exposing the French as being the perpetrators… and that they had to eventually admit to it." From left: Nick Hall, Peter Burridge, Glenda Hughes (obscured), Bert White, Terry Batchelor, Peter Williams, the late Cushla Watson, Maurice Witham, the late Dr Margaret Lawton, Chris Martin, Allan Galbraith, John Birmingham and Harry Hilditch. (Source: Supplied) Members of the Rainbow Warrior investigation team are meeting on Saturday for a reunion, as they have on a number of significant anniversaries. Some have contributed to documentaries, podcasts and news articles over the years, with a slew of new ones being prepared to mark this anniversary. If there is frustration that most of the agents got away, there is satisfaction at an extremely difficult job, done very well. "I think we were the only civil police organisation in the world to capture active DGSE agents on the job," says Maurice Witham, who today attended a commemoration in Auckland on board Greenpeace's new Rainbow Warrior vessel. "It's a pretty significant milestone for a small country like New Zealand to capture these guys, put them through the court and get a conviction. ADVERTISEMENT "Looking back 40 years, I don't think there's ever been anything bigger than this – one country vs another country, a 'friendly' country doing an act of what they call now terrorism. "In those days, the word terrorism wasn't used. We didn't consider it to be terrorism; to us we were investigating the murder of a man, Fernando Pereira, by blowing up of ship." — Police Ten One Magazine.
