Judge to review Scott Watson case
Double murderer Scott Watson’s latest attempt to overturn his conviction will be reviewed by the judge who oversaw David Bain’s retrial.
The Ministry of Justice confirmed to The Press on Tuesday Justice Sir Graham Panckhurst had been appointed to review Watson’s Royal Prerogative of Mercy (RPOM) application.
Watson is serving a life sentence after he was convicted in 1999 of killing Ben Smart, 21, and Olivia Hope, 17. The pair went missing from a New Year’s Eve party in the Marlborough Sounds in 1998.
The appointment of Justice Panckhurst to review the evidence and decide what action should or should not be taken was welcomed by Watson’s lawyer Jonathan Krebs.
‘‘Justice Panckhurst has a fine reputation. Not only as a High Court judge and Court of Appeal judge, but also when he was Crown Solicitor of Christchurch he a had reputation of fairness,’’ Krebs said.
‘‘We are very comfortable he has been the person appointed.’’
Last year, Watson’s legal team filed the RPOM citing fresh evidence challenging the ‘‘two hair theory’’ that helped seal his conviction.
Watson has always denied ever meeting the pair, let alone killing them.
The only physical evidence linking the couple to Watson was two blonde hairs – believed to be Hope’s – found on-board his home-built sloop Blade.
The hairs have long been considered the strongest piece of evidence in the Crown’s largely circumstantial case.
Justice Panckhurst will have to weigh up the evidence filed in Watson’s RPOM application and decide what advice to give to the Ministry of Justice.
If convinced there may have been a miscarriage of justice he could recommend the case be referred to the Court of Appeal.
The RPOM provides an avenue for criminal cases to be re-opened where a person may have been wrongly convicted or sentenced.
A High Court judge for 18 years, Panckhurst served in Christchurch. During that time he presided over a number of murder trials, including David Bain’s retrial in 2009 for the murder of his family.
Last year, Krebs, who helped prove Teina Pora was wrongfully convicted, took over Watson’s case.
Since then, Krebs had been contacted by a range of people offering up information on the case. ‘‘I had a number of unsolicited communications from a range of people offering material help. By that I mean providing information about things they saw and things they did in the days following the night in question,’’ he said.
Krebs urged other members of the public who had photographs from the night the pair went missing to contact him.
Of particular interest were any photos showing the infamous mystery ketch.
Smart and Hope were last seen by water taxi driver Guy Wallace boarding what he described as a ketch with a mystery man.
However, the ketch was never found.
‘‘I would be very interested to hear from anybody if they have photographs from around that time which were not provided to police,’’ Krebs said.
‘‘I am interested in speaking with people who may have provided photographs to police from that time.
‘‘Also, if anyone has information about the sightings of an unusual ketch please get in contact.’’
In New Zealand, the prerogative of mercy is exercised by the Governor-General.
The Governor-General will act on the advice of the Minister of Justice, and has the power to grant a pardon, reduce a sentence, or refer a case back to the courts for reconsideration.
Watson, along with his father, previously filed a RPOM in 2009 which was rejected by the Governor-General on the advice of then Justice Minister Judith Collins.