February 19, 2008

Tourists admit false robbery complaint

Three tourists who faked an armed robbery to cover-up road-rage damage to their camper van have been convicted and discharged at court with a judge’s wishes for a rapid departure from New Zealand shores.

Christchurch District Court Judge Stephen Erber found there was little he could do to the trio who have wasted police time – 100 hours of it – and have damaged New Zealand reputation overseas as a safe tourist destination.

They may need family help to continue their travels: they were out of money and heading for Australia to work and because they were caught and arrested after they had checked in for their flight at Christchurch Airport yesterday, they will probably forfeit those air fares as well.

The three were Bart Jan Willem Stevens, 19, of Torheijden, Netherlands, Antonino Francesco Rosario Salamone, 29, an Italian-born chef from Bundoora, Melbourne, Australia, and Johan Jasper van de Lande, 20, from the Netherlands.

They were charged that on February 10 they made false statements to a police officer that a crime of armed robbery had been committed. All three pleaded guilty.

The charge carries a penalty of only a fine, and they had no money to pay one. Police said that between them they had Aust$120.

“The court can only impose a fine, otherwise I would have thought seven days imprisonment might fit the bill,” said the judge.

He noted they had been held in the police cells and the Court House cells since their arrest yesterday.

Police prosecutor Nigel Wolland said the three arrived in New Zealand from northern Australia on February 4 and hired a camper van. They started their tour in the South Island and within a few days had driven to Milford Sound.

They then went to Akaroa but found it too quiet and drove to Christchurch and on February 9 they were driving around the central city looking for a place to park for the night.

Their van cut off another vehicle and at a set of traffic lights, the other driver got out of the vehicle, kicked the passenger window and threw a beer bottle through it, smashing the window.

The trio drove off and decided to cover the damage by making an insurance claim for armed robbery. They claimed three armed men had broken in to the van and robbed them near Akaroa, and reported cash and a lot of electronic gear had been taken – including a laptop computer and digital camera that they had never owned.

Mr Wolland said 15 police spent 100 man-hours on the inquiry, but the three were arrested leaving New Zealand with all the items, apart from the fictitious ones.

Their actions had tarnished New Zealand’s reputation as a safe destination, and caused concern that there was an armed gang roaming the Akaroa area, he said.

They admitted to police it was a stupid thing to do, but said that when the window was smashed they wanted to recover the cost of the repairs.

Duty solicitor Paul McMenamin said the trio had encountered aspects of New Zealand life that were “unpalatable but not untypical” with the road-rage attack. “It turned into a nightmare.”

They had dressed the complaint up by adding the sensational aspects which had caught the attention of the media. “It didn’t take them long to realise that was a stupid policy to pursue.”

They ended up not making any insurance claim at all but paying for the damage out of their own pockets.

They had very little money and were going back to Australia to work. They had almost certainly lost their airfare when they were arrested, and family help might be needed to get them straight back to Europe.

They all had good backgrounds, and he questioned the amount of damage they had done to the country’s reputation. “This is not a safe place in any particular sense and there is no point in pretending it is.”

Judge Erber pointed out they might now have trouble getting back into Australia because of the convictions.

“With Australia’s history, that would seem a little ironic,” said Mr McMenamin.

They apologised without reservations and had certainly learned their lesson, he said.

Judge Erber said it had been “dishonest, attention-getting behaviour which has wasted precious police resources and cost a great deal of money”.

“It also had the effect of contributing to the atmosphere of cynicism when similar but true complaints are made.”

It caused adverse publicity for New Zealand and brought anxiety about the fictitious criminals roaming the Akaroa area.

Unable to impose any realistic penalty, he said, “All I can do is get you out of this country as fast as possible.”

He convicted and discharged all three of them, but commented that he expected they and their families would face media attention at home.