Meth in sock man convicted

A New Plymouth man who was found with meth in his sock has pleaded guilty to drug dealing and dangerous driving.

Leith Nigel Castle originally faced eight charges at a jury trial in the New Plymouth District Court on Monday, but that was reduced to six charges after two were withdrawn yesterday.

On Monday, police told the court they had received a notification alert on September 1, 2016, saying Castle may be driving between Wellington and Auckland and had made threats about shooting police.

His car’s number plate was recognised at an alcohol checkpoint and police stopped the vehicle and conducted a search, finding items related to drug use in his car and a small ziplock bag containing meth in his sock.

Sergeant Patrick Duffy told the court the man had made a ‘‘funny face’’ at him, and he recognised the licence plate from the alert.

Duffy said Castle was unsteady on his feet and ‘‘clearly intoxicated.’’

When court resumed yesterday, the jury heard that Castle would be rearraigned to allow him to change his plea.

Judge Garry Barkle explained to the jury that in chambers before the trial resumed, he had dealt with admissibility of evidence around an incident in Pokeno, near Auckland, in February 2017.

‘‘As a result of the decision I made, it left the Crown without some evidence,’’ he told the jurors.

They couldn’t provide evidence of meth being found in Pokeno, he said.

Consequently, Crown prosecutor Jacob Burke applied for withdrawal of the seventh charge, possessing methamphetamine for supply, the judge said.

The sixth charge, refusing to undergo a compulsory impairment, was also withdrawn.

‘‘That, for one reason or another, led Mr Castle to reconsider his decision,’’ Judge Barkle said.

Castle then changed his plea to guilty for the remaining charges of offering to supply methamphetamine, possession of a class A controlled drug for supply and one of dangerous driving.

The judge thanked the jury for their patience and service, saying the justice system would ‘‘grind to a halt’’ unless the general public took part in jury service.

‘‘We need juries of people to sit there and listen to evidence and make decisions about other members of the community.

‘‘It is important that it’s not just left to judges.’’

Castle was convicted and remanded in custody for sentencing on Friday.