Tamihere Witness C drops appeal

WELLINGTON: Witness C, the man who lied at one of New Zealand’s most highprofile murder trials, has dropped an appeal against his perjury convictions.

The jailhouse informant was one of three secret Crown witnesses to give ‘‘powerful’’ evidence during the 1990 doublemurder trial of David Tamihere.

A jury found Tamihere guilty of murdering Swedish tourists Urban Hoglin (23) and Heidi Paakkonen (21) in the Coromandel Ranges in 1989.

The prison witnesses all claimed Tamihere had, at different times and while in custody, confessed to how he sexually assaulted and killed the Swedes.

Last year, inmate and ‘‘jailhouse lawyer’’ Arthur Taylor successfully prosecuted Witness C for eight counts of perjury, proving Witness C had lied during the trial.

Tamihere, who has always professed his innocence and was released on parole in 2010, said the convictions were a ‘‘major’’ moment in his case.

Witness C was found not guilty of obstructing the course of justice, which pertained to his 1995 affidavit recanting his testimony. He later recanted the affidavit.

When sentencing Witness C to eight years and seven months’ imprisonment last year, Justice Christian Whata also revoked his name suppression, which had been in place for nearly 30 years.

However, an interim suppression order was made because Witness C indicated he would appeal his perjury convictions and sentence.

But during the weekend, Witness C’s lawyer, Adam Simperingham, issued a notice of abandonment for the appeal of his client’s perjury convictions.

It was noted that Witness C would still appeal his prison sentence, which will be heard in the Court of Appeal later this year.

A Court of Appeal judgement is also expected soon on whether Witness C’s identity can be revealed publicly.

Last month, Taylor targeted a second witness in the Tamihere trial — Witness B.

He argued in the High Court at Auckland for the identity suppression of the second prison informant to be revoked.

Taylor alleges all three witnesses are guilty of lying at Tamihere’s trial and were offered inducements by the police to testify.

The Crown opposed the application, but Justice Mark Woolford revoked the suppression order made on November 20, 1990, by trial judge Justice David Tompkins.

That will come into effect from May 1, to allow the Crown to seek further legal options.

The Swedes’ disappearance sparked the largest landbased search ever undertaken in New Zealand.

In 1991, Hoglin’s remains were discovered by pig hunters in bush near Whangamata, about 70km from where the murders were alleged to have taken place.

Witness C had testified that Tamihere told him the bodies were dumped at sea.

Paakkonen’s remains have never been found. — NZME