Anzac feud back in court

A decade-long saga, starting with an idea to commemorate the Anzac spirit, which spiralled into blackmail and arson threats against the RSA, has once again reared its head.

The man at the centre of it all, Quinton Murray Berrett, was once again told by the Court of Appeal this month the convictions against him were sound.

Berrett was found guilty by a jury in the Whanganui District Court in May 2018 of threatening to destroy property, blackmail and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Those charges have their origin in events in 2012, when Berrett came up with the idea of having two statues of saluting soldiers built, putting one in New Zealand and the other in Australia, to commemorate the Anzac soldiers.

It got approval from New Zealand Defence Force artist Matthew Gauldie, while the RSA took up the project after being approached by Berrett.

Things went off the rails for Berrett, though, when the RSA published a report saying it was all Gauldie’s idea.

Things escalated when, in March 2015, Berrett sent an email saying the RSA had six days to sort things out or one of their buildings could be burned down. ‘‘The police can only detain me for a certain amount of time. Sooner or later I will be released and I will do exactly what I have told you I will do.’’

Emails threatening blackmail were also sent to Gauldie, and after Berrett was arrested emails were sent to thenWhanganui Crown solicitor Lance Rowe.

Those emails to Rowe threatened assault, which Berrett said could lead to him being ruled unfit to stand trial.

Letters were also sent to police saying, among other things, he had made a rocket launcher.

Berrett had an appeal against those convictions knocked back by the Court of Appeal in 2019, but he went back to the same court in May to try to convince it to recall its decision.

In the court’s latest ruling, Justice Mark Woolford said the initial appeal failed as the court decided there was plenty of evidence to point to Berrett’s guilt.

Berrett said at trial he did not send the emails, as they were allegedly sent at times he was unable to access the internet. But the Court of Appeal found the emails were sent in his name from an email address he regularly used to communicate with police.

He also did not deny sending them when he spoke with RSA representatives in March 2015.

He also accepted he had sent two emails to Gauldie and conceded another one was in his writing style.

He wanted the Court of Appeal decision recalled because he believed a police digital forensic expert perjured himself.

The expert said at trial it would be difficult to tell if emails were sent from a particular computer, but Berrett claimed figuring out the IP address would take only three clicks of a mouse.

He believed the information was known but withheld, so criminal charges should be laid. But Woolford said Berrett raised the IP issue at trial and had a chance to cross-examine the police’s expert.

Berrett essentially wanted to have a re-run of his trial, which was not how an application to recall a judgment worked, Woolford said.