Man in court over blackmail charges

A Taranaki man accused of sending threatening letters to the Department of Conservation (DOC) in an effort to end its 1080 pest control programme has been denied name suppression.

Gregory Ross Buchanan, 65, appeared in the New Plymouth District Court yesterday on four charges of blackmail.

The Crown has alleged Buchanan sent four letters between September 2017 and November this year.

He was arrested on Tuesday. Judge David Cameron remanded Buchanan on bail to reappear on November 29.

His conditions of bail included not entering New Plymouth’s Rimu St where the DOC office is based, not to have contact with any DOC employees and not to enter onto any DOC land.