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A Christchurch man has admitted his role in an $8.3 million Ponzi scheme that drew in 900 investors.

Jimmie Kevin McNicholl, 56, today admitted the fraud charge – obtaining registration as a Financial Service Provider by deception – in the Christchurch District Court and was remanded on bail for sentencing in June.

Another man, Lance Jack Ryan, 44, of Auckland, has earlier admitted five charges and both will be sentenced on June 20. Ryan has admitted charges of theft by a person in a special relationship, forgery, two of altering a document, and false accounting. Ryan is also known as Lance Jared Thompson.

He was brought to Christchurch for a pre-trial argument on a further charge, heard by Judge David Saunders, who reserved his decision.

The Serious Fraud Office called the scheme a Ponzi type arrangement.

McNicholl was a director of Arena Capital which purported to run a foreign exchange scheme called BlackfortFX which was said to be controlled by expert analysts and traders. It was put into receivership in May 2016 after intervention by the Financial Markets Authority.

The receivers found BlackfortFX had never traded in foreign exchange and any profits said to have been earned were fictitious. Arena Capital also went into liquidation.

The SFO alleged that about 900 clients paid about $8.3 million into BlackfortFX.

The judge remanded McNicholl for a pre-sentence report which will cover his suitability for a home detention sentence, though he said that was not an indication of the likely sentence.

He also remanded the case for a possible restorative justice meeting with the victims. The court was told that the liquidators were in contact by email with the long list of victims, and a message could be sent to them ahead of the sentencing.

The SFO said the two men were actively engaged in the development and promotion of BlackfortFX as a Forex trading opportunity. Arena Capital Ltd was registered with the Companies Office as the corporate body for BlackfortFX.

McNicholl was the sole director listed in the Companies Office register, but a shareholders’ agreement shows that McNicholl and Ryan had a 50 percent share interest in BlackfortFX.

The SFO said: “Ryan was a defacto director who was instrumental in orchestrating the planning, development, and the purported day to day operations of BlackfortFX.

“McNicholl, with the assistance and guidance of Ryan started promotion of BlackfortFX to friends and family, associates and members of the public through word of mouth, as well as through the internet using BlackfortFX’s webpage.”

The scheme represented to investors that it was a supported by a key trading strategy developed from five years of research and the return on investors’ funds was between 1 percent and 1.5 percent a day.

McNicholl admitted signing a letter seeking FSP registration, saying that Ryan was no longer involved, because of the Financial Market Authority’s concerns about Ryan’s background.

The SFO said: “Neither McNicholl nor Ryan transferred or paid any of the funds received from investors toward any legitimate Forex trading platform. Both knew that every request by an investor to withdraw money from their respective investiment accounts with BlackfortFX was being paid from the collective pool of investors’ funds.”

Between May 2014 and May 2015, about 900 investors paid about $8.3 million into the scheme.

BlackfortFX was placed into liquidation on July 24, 2015. Forensic analysis established that in addition to the amounts specifically attributed to Ryan and McNicholl from the bank account, there were also large amounts of money spent on other personal items including horses, motor vehicles, medical costs, and travel.

A liquidators’ report in February 2017 indicated that distribution of the remaining funds would yield 34 cents in the dollar for each investor and creditor.

An Asset Protection Order was obtained. In a settlement agreement with the liquidator, McNicholl agreed that at least $767,838 of Arena’s funds were used for the personal benefit of him and his partner. The summary of facts refers to a $350,000 deposit on a $3.5 million property in Christchurch, and purchase of a $111,000 car.

No less than $1.393 million was taken by Ryan, including payments to a family trust and a settlement payment for a $1 million property in Helensville.

In explanation, McNicholl said that he knew that if they wanted to grow BlackfortFX to where Ryan wanted it to go, they needed to be FSP-registered. He said everything was basically run by Ryan and that it was his trading platform that they were going to be using.

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A church involved in a pork-meal fundraiser which has led to the prosecution of a dairy and its owner has made no offer to help with the legal bills nor the fine.

Instead, the dairy owner – her business and her family are already struggling financially – faces paying off the $6750 total fines at a rate of $50 a week.

The Faithful Daez dairy in Stanmore Road and its 51-year-old director and manager, Asa Lino Mika, admitted charges in the Christchurch District Court of failing to have a risk management plan while storing pig meat that was intended for human consumption.

They had been prosecuted under the Animal Products Act, and pleaded guilty in March.

Defence counsel Grant Tyrrell said Mika had felt she was under some pressure to assist with the fundraiser. The church had not followed through with any support for the legal advice she needed, nor the fines that were likely to be imposed.

In 2016, a Christchurch Samoan church decided to hold a fundraiser to purchase a marquee, by selling pork meals to church members and the public.

The church bought 19 pigs from a local piggery and asked two church members to pick up the pigs and slaughter them. They did this at one of their homes, and neither had the necessary authorisations and registrations.

The carcasses and other cuts were stored in the dairy’s freezer until they were made into meals.

Inspectors found the 19 carcasses, one pork head, and pork chops were in the freezer. The carcasses had bank cash bags with prices attached to some of the pig’s snouts with rope and wire.

“Blood splatter was present on other legitimately processed and supplied products stored in the dairy’s freezer,” said Mr Fletcher when Mika pleaded guilty in March. A fertiliser bag outside the freezer had blood splatter on it.

“The blood splatter in the freezer is a very serious health risk presenting an opportunity for pathogens to be transferred to commercial food items,” he said.

The dairy did not have a risk management plan.

Judge Raoul Neave said the prosecution was brought because of the potential for contamination, but there was no evidence that any harm had occurred in this case.

Judge Neave reduced the fine because of Mika’s guilty plea and her financial situation. Her family was struggling because of the death of her husband earlier this year. She had no previous convictions.

He also noted that the church had not offered any help with the court action, having got Mika into this situation.

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A gang’s “visit” to a random house went disastrously wrong when it was found that a policeman lived there.

The Charteris Bay home invasion last July has led to a two-year seven-month jail term for one of those involved, Nomads gang member Norton Lindsay Adams.

Adams, 26, has pleaded guilty to a series of charges in the Christchurch District Court and was sentenced immediately by Judge Jane Farish after he waived the right to a pre-sentence report.

At least one of the others allegedly involved in the July 3 incident is pleading not guilty and still faces trial.

Adams has admitted charges of assault, unlawful possession of a firearm, reckless driving, and failing to stop for the police for the Charteris Bay incident. He admitted assault with intent to injure and unlawful possession of a firearm for a separate incident.

The Crown said Adams and another man were patched members of the Nomads gang, and a third person allegedly involved was linked to them.

They apparently drove to a random house where a constable happened to live, at 10.30pm.

The incident escalated quickly when the person who went to the door claimed to be with the police.

When the person was questioned and refused to leave, the real officer made an arrest. In the fight that followed, Adams punched him twice in the face and broke his glasses. Adams also stomped on his bare foot before the officer got back inside.

Adams drove erratically on Dyers Pass Road before the vehicle was stopped by police. A pump-action shotgun was found inside.

During the struggle at the door, the victim received a bleeding nose and a fat lip along with scratching on his arms, tenderness to his right arm, a sore left knee and right foot.

Judge Farish today said after receiving a letter from Adams that she believed he was starting to have insight into the effects of his offending and his lifestyle.

He had been on electronically monitored bail for several months, but had accepted that by pleading guilty he was going straight back to jail. The question was then whether he would be able to stay away from negative influences.

As well as the jail term, she disqualified him from driving for 15 months.

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An armed pharmacy robber said he meant business, but he handed over the knife he was holding when shop staff asked him to, the Christchurch District Court was told.

The man, David Anthony Foley, described as a 28-year-old father, admitted robbing the Templeton Pharmacy, at a video-link appearance from prison today.

Police said Foley was armed with a knife when he entered the Templeton Pharmacy on April 12 and asked his first victim for some Ritalin or controlled drugs. “I mean business,” he told the staff member.

But when asked to put the knife down on the counter before he would be given the drugs, Foley agreed.

The second victim in the pharmacy moved the knife to another room, and Foley was given a box of Ritalin tablets and a box of Rubifen tablets, both of which are Class B controlled drugs.

Foley then demanded the knife back as it had his fingerprints on it, so it was cleaned by the second victim and wrapped in a towel.

A third victim said Foley could have the knife back, and then he would be escorted out of the pharmacy to keep everyone safe.

Foley left with the knife and two boxes of tablets.

Defence counsel April Kelland said Foley was doing a drug and alcohol course in prison. She said he was a good father, and had been employed, but drugs had got the better of him.

Judge Tom Gilbert withdrew a charge of unlawful possession of drugs, read Foley the first of the three strike warnings for repeat violent offenders, and remanded him in custody for sentencing on August 29 on the armed robbery charge.

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Two Canadian bank card skimmers can expect deportation any day after being sentenced for their hopeless venture into the multi-billion dollar financial crime industry.

The uncle and nephew have been held in custody for two-and-a-half months which means they have served half the five-month jail terms imposed today by Christchurch District Court Judge Paul Kellar and are eligible for release straight away.

The judge said he confidently expected the pair to be contacted immediately by immigration authorities and be sent home. The skimming equipment they brought into New Zealand and installed on automatic teller machines at New Brighton and Linwood will be destroyed.

Hoang Nguyen, 39, and his nephew Quang Nguyen, 28, pleaded guilty in March to joint charges of accessing computer systems – both Westpac automatic teller machines – with intent to dishonestly obtain bankcard information.

The pair arrived in New Zealand in February on February 26, on three month visitor visas, with the skimming gear to get ATM-users’ bank card details and PIN numbers, and a list of eight Christchurch ATMs.

In fact, they got nothing. Quick action by Westpac staff and police meant the devices were spotted soon after they were installed and the Nguyens were found at their accommodation with more skimming gear, cameras, a laptop computer, and the list.

Judge Kellar said skimming details and then cloning bank cards was the fastest growing electronic crime, with losses of $8 billion a year in the United States alone. New Zealand losses amounted to millions of dollars a year.

Police prosecutor Bronwen Blackmore said it was an aggravating factor that the pair came to New Zealand with the intention of committing the crime, and it was fortuitous that bank staff were able to intervene before there was any loss.

Counsel for Quang, Colin Eason, said his client was a restaurant manager who had planned a long trip through the Pacific, the Middle East, and then to Vietnam to visit an ageing grandparent. “The cost of part of that journey has been lost – he accepts that.”

Both Mr Eason, and Hoang’s lawyer, Elizabeth Bulger, urged the judge not to impose extra jail time for premeditation, because preparation was part of the nature of the offence. Her client had not yet been contacted Immigration New Zealand, but he had no problem with immediate deportation on his release.

Judge Kellar said it was reasonably serious and sophisticated offending, against a banking industry which relied on people having confidence in its systems. There was a high degree of planning and sophistication.

He reduced the Nguyens’ jail terms because they had no criminal records in Canada and they had pleaded guilty early.

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A few “hiccups” but overall the monthly report card is a Pass for the youth who once planned an ISIS-style terrorist attack in Christchurch.

The judge’s comments at a monitoring session at court hinted at occasional outbursts which staff have had to deal with at the supervised accommodation where the teenager has been staying.

The 18-year-old had his third monthly monitoring session with Christchurch District Court Judge Stephen O’Driscoll yesterday, after his sentencing in February.

Judge O’Driscoll has held the monitoring sessions in public because of public interest in the case where the youth carried out a violent incident. Media argued that the public needed reassurance that the teenager was making progress on his supervision sentence where he is living in supervised accommodation.

Last year, he planned to ram a car into a group of people and then stab them until the police killed him. He went through with a threatening a violent incident but “decided not to hurt anybody because he did not have the means to kill enough people”. He had been radicalised online and planned a terrorist attack “for Allah”.

The youth, whose name is suppressed, had written his own report for the judge yesterday. This month, he elected not to read out the report in court.

When he read an earlier report out in April, media covering the case heard him speak for the first time as he outlined his progress, his hopes, and his activities, including golf.

Judge O’Driscoll also had a report from Community Corrections which recommended no changes to the youth’s supervision and counselling arrangements. Crown prosecutor Mark Zarifeh and defence counsel Anselm Williams didn’t have anything more to add.

Judge O’Driscoll said the youth was now enrolled at Correspondence School to study social studies and NCEA level one Pathways. He asked to get regular updates on the credits the youth was receiving.

He was also attending the counselling sessions arranged, which include visits to a mosque. He was working through “thought-challenging skills”. Judge O’Driscoll said: “You say you are proud of yourself and have a better understanding now about accepting other people’s beliefs. That is different from how you felt earlier.”

The youth was also working on good sportsmanship. He did not like losing games and became frustrated at times.

“It seems things are going along reasonably well,” said the judge. “I see there has been the odd hiccup when you get frustrated, but staff are only there to help and assist you. They deserve to be shown and treated with respect.

“While progress has been made, there are some hiccups we need to iron out. This means keeping up the good work.”

Previous hearings have heard how the youth has been opening up more in sessions with a departmental psychologist and how he has been out under supervision to play his first round of golf.

Judge O’Driscoll adjourned the case to June 15 for another monitoring session, without any changes to the supervision arrangements.

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Name suppression for a couple who have been charged with a $1.4m theft will be appealed in the High Court in Christchurch after Judge Paul Kellar refused to continue the order today.

The jointly charged couple pleaded not guilty to charges involving accessing a computer system to dishonestly obtain $1,340,900, and stealing the money from a woman.

They are also facing three further charges of stealing $52,600 from the woman, and three of accessing a computer system to obtain the money.

The charges refer to alleged offending in 2016 and 2017.

In the Christchurch District Court Judge Paul Kellar accepted their not guilty pleas, refused the interim name suppression application, and remanded the pair on bail for a Crown case review hearing on July 18.

Defence counsel Anselm Williams told Judge Kellar they were going to appeal his decision on lifting name suppression, and he continued the order until the appeal is heard.

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The complainant in a rape, kidnapping, and bashing trial has been accused by the defence of telling an “evolving” story.

After hearing closing addresses by the Crown and defence, and the summing up from Justice David Gendall in the High Court at Christchurch, the jury has now retired to consider its verdicts in the trial of 43-year-old Luke James Henry.

Henry pleaded guilty to two assault charges as the trial began on Monday, admitting that he choked the woman in the September 2016 incident, but he denied all other charges.

The Crown said on Monday the pair had met on an online dating site, and the woman had been raped several times in the course of a weekend incident in which she said she was also assaulted and strangled.

The defence called no evidence, but counsel Josh Lucas accused the woman of telling a story that kept evolving, and making her complaints to get rid of Henry when he became annoying.

He said there was no physical evidence of any of the offending, and the only forensic evidence placed before the trial seemed to count against the Crown allegations.

He said tissues found at the scene – which the woman said had been used by Henry after a rape only 30 minutes before the police arrived – did not show traces of semen, according to the ESR which conducted the tests.

The evidence was that the woman had been able to speak to two or three people while the Crown alleged she was being detained by Henry. “He wasn’t hiding her from the outside world,” said Mr Lucas.

The defence suggested that a text message about Henry “detaining someone against their will” could have been sent by the woman herself.

Crown prosecutor Barnaby Hawes said two texts sent to associates by Henry were “decisive pieces of evidence”. One said that he was going to “track down (the woman) and smash her over”. The other said that he was “holding someone against their will”.

He rejected the defence contention that the woman had sent the text herself while Henry was asleep. If she had sent it, surely it would have been a “better” text message giving more details.

The message was consistent with Henry’s other behaviour, he said. He said it also went a long way to prove the rape allegations. “How can you have consensual sex with someone who is being held against their will?” he asked.

The jury retired to consider its verdicts when Justice Gendall finished his summing up after 3pm on the fourth day of the trial. At 5.30pm, it was sent home overnight and will return to its deliberations at 9.30am on Friday.

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Convicted murderer Dean Raymond Purdy has been remanded in custody on charges of breaching his life parole and possession of cannabis, after two weeks on the run from police.

He was arrested in the Main North Road, Christchurch, on Thursday night, and appeared by video-link in the Christchurch District Court today.

Police said the arrest of 54-year-old Purdy took place without incident.

Judge Stephen O’Driscoll remanded Purdy to June 1, for an appearance by video-link from the prison where he has now been recalled to serve more of his life sentence.

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Luke James Henry

The Crown is asking for an open-ended preventive term to be considered for Luke James Henry, after a jury convicted him on charges of kidnapping, choking, and raping a woman.

The jury’s verdicts – all but one were unanimous – were delivered after about eight hours of deliberations in the five day trial.

The jury convicted him on two charges of raping the woman in the September 2016 incident, two of assaulting her, and one of kidnapping her. He admitted two other assault charges on the same woman, as the trial began.

After the verdicts, Crown prosecutor Barnaby Hawes asked Justice David Gendall to order two reports by health assessors to gauge Henry’s risk of further serious offending, so that preventive detention could be considered at his sentencing.

Justice Gendall remanded 43-year-old Henry in custody for sentencing on July 27. He asked for a pre-sentence report and the two reports by health assessors – usually a psychologist and a psychiatrist.

He also gave Henry a warning as a second strike offender. The system means that Henry will serve the sentence imposed this time without parole or early release.

The jury found Henry not guilty on two charges of rape and two charges of assault.

The trial was told that he had met the woman through an online dating site.

The Crown case was that she had been detained, assaulted by choking, and raped during a weekend in September 2016, as well as earlier assaults and a rape. He was found not guilty of the earlier rape.

Defence counsel Josh Lucas accused the woman of telling an “evolving” story, including sending one of the crucial texts herself. The Crown emphasised that text for the kidnapping charge, on which Henry was convicted.

Henry remained calm as the verdicts were delivered and when he was remanded for sentence.

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A woman who arranged for two travellers to fly into New Zealand from Hawaii with more than $200,000 of methamphetamine hidden internally has been jailed for three years six months.

Shimaine Laura Margaret Riviere, 49, who has dual American and New Zealand citizenship, pleaded guilty to the meth importation charge in the Christchurch District Court in February. The offence of importing the class A drug carries a maximum term of life imprisonment.

The two travellers – both women – went to Hawaii for about a week in December 2015.

Customs questioned them when they flew back into New Zealand. At first they denied importing drugs but with the prospect of CT scans looming they admitted carrying the methamphetamine internally.

The combined weight of meth in eight packages removed from them was 224g, which had a street value of up to $224,000.

Judge Paul Kellar said he had been told that Riviere had given the women the methamphetamine, instructed them how to package and conceal it, and was supposed to arrange for its collection in New Zealand.

The judge said text messaging showed that both women were heavily involved in the scheme and were more than just drug “mules”. One of them was living with a gang member at the time. Both have pleaded guilty and been sentenced.

Riviere did not impress the probation officer who interviewed her ahead of her sentencing. The report said she had given “convoluted and sometimes contradictory explanations” for importing the drugs, and there was little sign of remorse or acceptance of responsibility.

However, defence counsel Pip Hall QC said she had apologised for her offending in a long letter to the judge. He read out a section: “I am in a constant state of remorse or regret. I wasn’t in my right mind. I have completely ruined my life and damaged the lives of my children in the process.”

Judge Kellar said he was willing to accept that she was genuinely remorseful, and he noted “glowing testimonials” provided by several people, saying that she was of good character and put others before herself.

“And yet you have been involved in serious offending. Methamphetamine is a drug that wreaks absolute havoc on the lives of those who use it and on the community in general,” he said.

He reduced her sentence for her guilty plea, her previous good character – Riviere had no prior convictions – and for the long period she had spent on remand on electronically monitored bail.

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Property consultant Stephen Rolf Gubb has been jailed for two years nine months for commission frauds on deals relating to the Izone development in Rolleston.

The Christchurch District Court was told that the real estate company involved had reached a civil repayment agreement with the Selwyn District Council which had paid $300,000 in commissions.

One of the charges involved a fraudulent invoice put in to the council by Gubb for lighting repairs in a reserve area. Gubb immediately repaid the $10,500 involved in that, as soon as the fraud was discovered.

Judge David Saunders added to Gubb’s jail term because of a previous similar conviction, but reduced it for his guilty pleas, his repayment on the false invoice charge, and his offer to take part in restorative justice.

Gubb, 62, from Wanaka, admitted the 14 fraud charges in March and had been remanded in custody for sentence.

He was a property consultant for Hughes Developments Ltd, which was managing an industrial park known as Izone, in Rolleston, for the Selwyn District Council.

The Serious Fraud Office said Gubb was employed to sell Izone land, leases, and design and build packages, but if a real estate agent introduced a purchaser to the property they would receive the commission.

Between March 2007 and July 2015 Gubb arranged for an agent’s real estate office to receive 13 commission payments worth $300,828, and then the agent was paid the commission through them, which totalled $149,094.

However the Serious Fraud Office found that 10 of the sale and purchase agreements for the 13 sales in question were shown as “Sale by Private Treaty”, but a commission invoice was generated and submitted for payment by Gubb. In 13 cases the purchasers did not know the real estate agent in any capacity.

Defence counsel Allister Davis said Gubb had taken responsibility from the beginning. The frauds had taken place over a seven-year period. Gubb had found himself financially “painted into a corner” over a house renovation project in Fendalton.

He noted that Gubb had a previous similar conviction. One of the precedent cases that the Serious Fraud Office referred to in its sentencing submissions involved Gubb himself.

The real estate agent who faces 13 alleged fraud charges has pleaded not guilty and is due to appear for a case review hearing on May 30. Interim name suppression has been granted until the next appearance.

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A jury will have to decide whether conspiracy, revenge, and lies has led to a 45-year-old man being put on trial for child sex abuse offending.

The Crown says that in spite of a series of incidents – including blackmail – the abuse of three girls did occur.

The defence says the three week trial in the Christchurch District Court has heard nothing to corroborate or to confirm independently the evidence of the three women.

The alleged victims are now women in their 20s. They were aged between seven and 16 years when the Crown says the offending occurred at several West Coast locations and in Christchurch.

The women’s names are suppressed, and the man has interim suppression.

He denies six charges of rape, eight of indecent assault, seven of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, one of attempted unlawful sexual connection, and two of inducing girls to do an indecent act.

The trial was told that two of the women had admitted blackmailing the man, as teenagers. Defence counsel Pip Hall QC described the blackmail texts as “evil and threatening” carried out by nasty and conniving teenagers.

He told the jury in his closing address that the defence submitted the three women had lied in their evidence. He alleged they had made false allegations to get even with the man, and exact revenge.

The defence said there had been “cross-fertilisation” in the evidence of the women, to enable their memories to be altered to carry out the blackmail. “Clearly, they got their heads together.”

Crown prosecutor Karyn South said the defence stance that there was a conspiracy against the man did not stack up. Three women had come to court and the defence would claim that they had “lied and acted for days” as they gave evidence. The defence had not made a dent in the testimony of one of the complainants during two days of cross-examination.

She said she expected the defence would argue about the unreliability of memory. “The biggest problem with memory, as far as the defence is concerned, is that people have it.” The three girls who the Crown said had been sexual abused, had grown up and told what had happened.

The man claimed he had been the victim of a campaign of harassment and blackmail, but he had made payments to three women who the Crown said he had abused. Two of the women, as teenagers, had admitted blackmailing him.

“The payments to all these girls are tantamount to admissions,” said Miss South. “The Crown says that when you look at all the facts, there is no mystery about why he made these payments. He did so because he committed these offences.”

Mr Hall said that the payments were not proof of the offending. The man told the police he made the payments to stop the harassment and threatening comments. “The payments were made to avoid yet another false allegation to the police, which had become a pattern,” he said.

The defence case was that the sexual offending did not occur.

Judge Brian Callaghan is expected to sum up on Friday, before the jury retires to consider its verdicts.

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After a short retirement, a jury convicted Rory Manuel of the armed robbery of a tinny house in which a man was shot in the neck.

After giving its verdict with less than an hour of deliberations, the jury was told about Manuel’s significant criminal history.

The Christchurch District Court trial before Judge Jane Farish began on Wednesday, and as it ended today she thanked the jury. “You have probably been exposed to a side of Canterbury life that you probably didn’t even know existed,” she said.

The judge remanded 34-year-old Manuel in custody for sentencing on July 25. She gave him a first strike warning and asked for a pre-sentence report.

She also asked Crown prosecutor Sean Mallett for a copy of Manuel’s criminal history before reading it and telling the jurors: “He is someone who is no stranger to violence unfortunately.”

She said: “You are entitled to know that in recent times, Mr Manuel has been involved with methamphetamine, and that appears to have driven some of his most recent offending.

“He has a history that includes wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, assault with a weapon, assault, and injuring with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.”

The trial was told that two intruders – Manuel was the only one police identified and charged – burst into a house in Bryndwr about 2am, one of them holding a sawn-off shotgun.

The intruders said they wanted “money, drugs, and valuables” and scoured the property before gathering up items, and then moving furniture. At that stage the gun went off, hitting one of the occupants in the neck and shoulder.

The trial heard evidence that there had been cannabis dealing from the house that evening, and the three occupants had bought methamphetamine and smoked it.

Manuel had denied the charge of causing grievous bodily harm during an armed robbery.

Tim Fournier appeared as defence counsel for Manuel.

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A jury has thrown out all 18 child sex abuse charges against a West Coast man who had been blackmailed by two of his three accusers.

The emphatic clean sweep of not guilty verdicts was delivered by the Christchurch District Court jury on the 18th day of the trial before Judge Brian Callaghan.

Two of the three complainants, who were not in Christchurch, were able to view the judge by video-link and hear the verdicts being delivered. They had no view of the court, the defendant, or the jury.

The 45-year-old man was able to step out of the dock to hug family and supporters in the back of the court. He declined to speak to the reporter in court.

The jury delivered its verdicts three days after it began its deliberations, but much of that time was spent looking at the video-recording of the interview with one of the complainants and listening to the recording of the related evidence and cross-examination.

Defence counsel Pip Hall QC, who appeared with Ethan Huda, put forward a defence case that the sexual abuse of the three girls had not happened and the allegations of sexual abuse over eight years were lies.

The women’s names were automatically suppressed, and the judge has now made the man’s interim name suppression final with the end of the trial.

The man had denied six charges of rape, eight of indecent assault, seven of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, one of attempted unlawful sexual connection, and two of inducing girls to do an indecent act.

The alleged victims are now women in their 20s. They were aged between seven and 16 years when the Crown alleged the offending occurred at several West Coast locations and near Christchurch in one case. All of the charges referred to dates more than 10 years ago.

“The payments to all these girls are tantamount to admissions,” Crown prosecutor Karyn South told the jury. “The Crown says that when you look at all the facts, there is no mystery about why he made these payments. He did so because he committed these offences.”

Judge Callaghan thanked the jury for the time they had spent on the trial, taking so much time out of their personal lives.

“It has probably been one of the most difficult trials I have seen for quite a few years,” said the judge.

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An arrest warrant will be issued in a week for an Otago man who faces a series of charges of doing unlicensed building or inspection work in Christchurch.

Christchurch District Court Judge Gary MacAskill signed the warrant against Rodney James Day, 54, today but directed that it “lie in court” for a week before it becomes active.

Day was meant to be at the Justice Precinct to appear on 15 charges but made no appearance.

Prosecutor Heather McKenzie provided the judge with documentation showing that the summons to appear at court had been served on Day at Dunedin on May 15.

Day faces 11 charges doing building or inspection when he did not hold an appropriate licence in Christchurch between 2014 and 2016.

He also faces two charges of making a false document, and two of using a forged document. Those offences are also alleged to have been committed in Christchurch during the same period.

The charges have been brought by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

No new date has been set for a new appearance by Day. That will depend on when the warrant is executed.

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No bail application was made for a 29-year old man charged with wounding a police dog in an overnight incident at Kaiapoi.

Christchurch District Court Judge Gary MacAskill remanded Joshua Luke Cooper, of Hornby, in custody to appear again on June 18.

Defence counsel Caitlin Gentleman said no bail application was being made at Cooper’s first appearance, but one may be made at his next court date.

Cooper entered no plea to the charge of intentionally wounding a police dog without lawful authority or reasonable excuse.

Police said the four-year-old dog Kosmo received a 4cm cut to the throat, narrowly missing his carotid artery, while responding to a family harm incident in Kaiapoi about 6.30pm on Thursday. He was flown by helicopter to a Christchurch 24-hour veterinary surgery where he received a blood transfusion from another police dog.

Today, Kosmo was transferred to a police veterinarian where he was being monitored and may undergo exploratory surgery to check for internal damage.

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A 34-year-old man who “cleaned” some of the electronic gear allegedly stolen by a crime ring involved in 55 burglaries has been jailed for 17 months.

Andrew Karl Radcliffe will be released from prison almost immediately because he has served all the sentence while on remand.

Three other people charged with being members of an organised criminal group – a charge that Radcliffe has admitted – have pleaded not guilty and the case is heading for trial.

Police allege the group caused losses totalling about $194,000 with its long list of burglaries.

Christchurch District Court Judge Jane Farish said Radcliffe was the “fence” or receiver who offered to clean electronic devices stolen by co-offenders.

Defence counsel Vicki Walsh said Radcliffe had made genuine efforts to improve his situation by doing courses while he was in prison on remand. He sincerely hoped that the sentence would amount to “time served” and he could be released straight away.

Radcliffe had realised that his offending had a significant effect on himself, his partner, and his eight-year-old daughter.

“You believe it is time to change your lifestyle,” said Judge Farish. “I agree. You need to change the people you have been hanging out with.”

She told him it was easy to make “a couple of bucks” through criminal offending, but it was not worth the risk.

She jailed him for 17 months, with six months of post release conditions during which he must attend assessment for a rehabilitation programme, and treatment and counselling as directed. He must also go to an assessment for an alcohol and drug treatment programme.

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Two men – one of them a sex worker – have been remanded on serious assault and armed robbery charges at the Christchurch District Court.

They face a joint charge of robbing a man of a laptop while armed with a shotgun and a hammer, and wounding him with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, in Christchurch on Monday.

Levi Adam Bartlett, a 30-year-old sex worker, of Linwood, faces the joint charge of wounding the man with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, robbing him while armed with a hammer, unlawfully carrying a shotgun and possession of ammunition, and possession of cannabis.

Barlett was remanded in custody for a video-link appearance from the prison on June 25, for a possible bail application.

Petuera Clarke, 31, of Sydenham, faces the joint charge of wounding the man with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, robbing him while armed with a shotgun, unlawfully carrying a shotgun and possession of ammunition, and intentionally obstructing a police officer.

Clarke made no bail application and was remanded in custody for an appearance by video-link from the prison on June 18, when a bail application was expected to be made, duty lawyer Andrew Bailey told Community Magistrate Leigh Langridge.

No pleas were entered.

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Police opposed bail for one of the two men charged over a robbery incident at an Addington dairy.

The men made brief appearances before Community Magistrate Leigh Langridge at the Christchurch District Court and were remanded without plea.

Joshua James Allan, a 36-year-old labourer from Aranui, and Jamal Richard Lawson, 29, from Hoon Hay are charged with assaulting a staff member at a dairy in Somerset Crescent with intent to rob him, while armed with a knife.

Police did not oppose bail for Allan. He was remanded to June 28, with bail conditions that he live at a specified address with a parent, report to the police three times a week, have no contact with the alleged victim and co-offender, and not go into Somerset Crescent.

Lawson’s bail was opposed and duty lawyer Tom Stevens said he would make no application today. Community Magistrate Langridge remanded him in custody for an appearance by video-link on June 25, when he will have a lawyer assigned and an application for release on bail may be considered.

Police described the incident as an attempted robbery. They said staff were threatened but nothing was taken and no-one was injured in the incident on Tuesday. The two men were arrested nearby soon after the incident.

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