Retired judge remembered
A former Palmerston North prosecutor who went on to become a formidable New Zealand judge has been remembered as a talented and engaging man.
David Cameron McKegg died last Thursday at the age of 81 and was farewelled at a large service in Nelson yesterday.
The talented barrister’s career began in Palmerston North in the 1960s before he was appointed as a Crown solicitor in 1981.
For several years he traipsed the halls of the courthouse, prosecuting everything from murder trials to sexual abuse cases.
In 1983, Ben Vanderkolk, not long out of law school, secured a job with McKegg.
While he was handling the big cases, Vanderkolk was introduced to a large stack of files and the bankruptcy and liquidation court.
The first trial they worked on together was the murder of Whanganui stockbroker Donald Stewart Corby, whose partially naked body had been found at a park on the outskirts of Palmerston North. Vanderkolk said he was grateful to be able to work alongside McKegg, who was a gifted orator and outstanding advocate. “He had a wonderful gift for language and a glorious sense of humour.”
The pair secured manslaughter convictions for Palmerston North men Russell Frederick Graham and Manu Aperahama Royal, and they continued working together for the next few years.
Vanderkolk said McKegg showed him that being a court lawyer didn’t have to be boring.
“He was a wonderful and engaging person to work with and spend time with.
“I think what I got from David was the possibility to enjoy the practice of law and see the fun in it.”
Vanderkolk remembered one of the first jobs he was tasked with was organising a 50th jubilee for the Devil’s Own Golf Club in 1984.
He said McKegg was a “very talented golfer and cricketer … He put me on the junior committee for the Manawatū Devil’s Own Golf committee to help with the preparation and planning.”
McKegg always had a good sense of humour, and although sometimes “imposing” because of his size, he had passed on skills Vanderkolk was “deeply grateful for”.
McKegg left Palmerston North about 1986 to pursue his practice in Kerikeri.
He was appointed a district court judge in 1987. “I had mixed feelings about him [eventually] leaving – there was still so much to learn,” Vanderkolk said. “I was lucky to attend his swearing-in as a judge.”
Vanderkolk was also lucky to meet McKegg’s wife, Edna, while she was working at the Palmerston North office as his secretary.
In an interview with the husband and wife in 2017, Edna shared the pair’s love of helping people in hospice care.
They were living in Nelson and had been writing life stories for patients.
At the time, McKegg said that since his retirement in 2013 he had wanted to contribute to the community in some meaningful way. “As a judge you get to know human nature, of course, but we’re not judging – we’re just recording.”
He said he engaged people by being friendly and it was a privilege to be allowed into the lives of others.
In 2010 he told the Nelson Mail that he took inspiration for his favourite roast lamb recipe from a case he presided over in Tauranga.
The four-week trial involved a drug-growing operation in the Waioeka Gorge.
A diary surfaced with scribblings from the dealers and a few recipes.
He jotted down the lamb recipe, which required the cook to make a marinade out of mint leaves, parsley and soy sauce. “I like the smell of it cooking outside as it wafts around the neighbourhood,” he said.