29 Mar 2018

Taylor wins right to name another prison informant

5:48 pm on 29 March 2018

The self-styled jailhouse lawyer Arthur Taylor has won the right to name another prison informant in the David Tamihere trial.

Arthur Taylor

Arthur Taylor has won the right to name Witness B and is now fighting to name Witness C. Photo: RNZ / Kim Baker-Wilson

The witness, known as Witness B, died over 20 years ago.

Witness B was one of three witnesses who told Tamihere's 1990 trial that Tamihere spoke of sexually assaulting and killing Swedish tourists Heidi Paakkonen and Sven Hoglin.

All three were granted suppression to protect them from retribution.

Taylor said Witness B was not truthful and spoke to family and friends about his testimony before he died and he now wants to talk to a reporter about that.

The Crown argued naming Witness B will deter other prison witnesses coming forward in the future.

Justice Woolford disagreed but continued name suppression for a further month so the Crown can consider appealing.

Taylor is fighting to name another prison informant, known as Witness C.

Witness C has been convicted of perjury, following a successful private prosecution by Taylor.

He lost his name suppression as he was sentenced to eight and-a-half years in prison but has appealed that decision to the Court of Appeal.

Taylor's lawyer, Richard Francois, told the court in February that Witness C should be named.

He said people who violated the justice system should not expect the system to protect them but he said that was exactly what Witness C had done.

Witness C told Tamihere's 1990 trial that Tamihere had made a number of confessions to him, including that he had sexually abused the Swedish tourists Heidi Paakkonen and Sven Hoglin and that he had dumped their bodies at sea.

Following Tamihere's trial, Mr Hoglin's body was found in a shallow grave on the Coromandel Peninsula. Ms Paakonen has never been found.

Witness C later recanted the confession saying he had been put up to it by police - something police denied. An investigation subsequently cleared police of any wrongdoing.

Witness C's lawyer, Heather Vaughn, told the Court of Appeal back in February that her client should be allowed to keep his name secret.

She said her client planned to appeal his convictions for perjury.

If that was successful there would be a retrial but if he was named, he might not get a fair trial as potential jurors might have heard about his history in the media.

She said media coverage would likely be extensive because of her client's link to the Tamihere trial and there would be coverage overseas, given the victims.

It was also in the public interest to keep the identity of informants secret as it might deter other informants coming forward, she said.

The Court of Appeal is yet to issue its decision.

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