Webb v Police - [2013] NZHC 272

IN THE HIGH COURT OF NEW ZEALAND BLENHEIM REGISTRY

CRI-2012-406-26 [2013] NZHC 272

BETWEEN COLIN GORDON WEBB Appellant
ANDNEW ZEALAND POLICE Respondent

Hearing: 20 February 2013

Counsel: No appearance of Appellant
S O'Donoghue for Respondent

Judgment: 20 February 2013

JUDGMENT OF MILLER J

[1] Mr Webb appeals against convictions for disorderly behaviour and assault with intent to injure.[1] At the end of the hearing I dismissed the appeal, indicating that my reasons would follow.

[1] Respectively, s 3 Summary Offences Act and s 193, Crimes Act 1961.

[2] The convictions, which followed a defended hearing in the District Court at Blenheim on 19 September 2012, arose out of an incident during an earlier hearing in the same Court, on 9 December 2011.

[3] That incident involved Mr Webb and two police officers, Sergeant Single and Senior Constable Jackson. It happened at the end of a hearing concerning a traffic infringement by Mr Webb. The Sergeant prosecuted, and the Senior Constable gave evidence of which Mr Webb disapproved. His behaviour when his truck was
stopped for speeding had been sufficiently volatile to cause the Senior Constable to

WEBB v NEW ZEALAND POLICE HC BLE CRI-2012-406-26 [20 February 2013]

question his fitness to hold a licence, while Mr Webb had considered the officer overbearing. At the hearing the two officers considered that Mr Webb treated the presiding Justices disrespectfully. The Justices found the offence proved and imposed a period of disqualification, which upset him.

[4] When the Court rose for the day Mr Webb was said to have refused to leave when the officers asked him to do so. He was warned that he might be arrested for trespass but he insisted that it was a public place and he would remain. The officers took steps to remove him. Trouble ensued. Outside the courtroom the police sought to arrest him. He resisted, and bit Senior Constable Jackson in the struggle, during which pepper spray was used to subdue him.

[5] These post-hearing events led to the present convictions, which followed a one-day defended hearing on 19 September 2012 at which Mr Webb was represented by counsel and gave evidence, as did his daughter and his partner. The two police officers and the court registrar at the time also gave evidence. The evidence was in sharp conflict, and the decision was reserved until 15 October. In the result, charges of trespass and assaulting Sergeant Single were dismissed, the former because Sergeant Single was not an occupier entitled to order Mr Webb from the courtroom, and the latter because the Judge was not satisfied that the blow which led to the charge was deliberately inflicted by Mr Webb.

[6] The Judge observed at sentencing, where he imposed 100 hours community work, that the whole incident had caused Mr Webb significant cost, effectively placing his business as a self-employed owner/driver on hold, and that although Mr Webb had behaved inappropriately and angrily, the offence was out of character.

[7] Mr Webb’s notice of appeal claimed…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

Continue reading Webb v Police

Details

AGLC: Webb v Police [2013] NZHC 272
Case: [2013] NZHC 272
Decision Date: 20 February 2013

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In the High Court of New Zealand, Colin Gordon Webb appealed against his convictions for disorderly behaviour and assault with intent to injure. The convictions arose from an incident that occurred at the end of a hearing in the District Court at Blenheim on 19 September 2012, involving Mr Webb and two police officers. Mr Webb was unhappy with the outcome of the hearing and his subsequent refusal to leave the courtroom resulted in his arrest. The events that followed led to his convictions.

The primary legal issues that the court was required to decide were whether the Judge's findings of fact were correct, and whether the evidence supported the conviction for disorderly behaviour in the absence of evidence from members of the public. The court needed to assess the credibility of the witnesses, including Mr Webb and the police officers, and determine whether the Judge's findings were open to him.

The court found that the Judge's findings of fact were well supported by the evidence. The three reliable witnesses confirmed the facts found by the Judge, while Mr Webb's own evidence and that of his daughter was implausible. The transcript and audio recording of the hearing supported the Judge's findings, including his finding that Mr Webb and Rachel Webb were unreliable witnesses. The court also found that the Judge's finding that members of the public were present was open to him, and that the public was entitled to expect that courthouses will be safe places, free of aggressive behaviour.

The appeal was dismissed, and the convictions were upheld. The court found that the Judge's findings of fact were well supported by the evidence and that the evidence supported the conviction for disorderly behaviour in the absence of evidence from members of the public.

Orders