PRISON INMATES COOKED UP MORPHINE

Inmates at Christchurch's Rolleston prison cooked up morphine sulphate
tablets in their cells to make heroin, Christchurch District Court was
told on Tuesday.

Gregory Martin Antonovich, 30, now a prisoner at Paparoa Prison in
Christchurch said he and another inmate were regularly supplied with
the tablets which they converted into liquid heroin in a fellow
inmate's cell.

Antonovich was giving evidence in the trial of Wayne David
Brown.

Brown, 44, unemployed, has been charged with four counts of possessing
Class B drugs for supply, five of receiving stolen goods, and one of
money laundering.

Brown has denied the charges and the method of money laundering has
been suppressed for fear of copycat offending.

The prosecution has claimed that Brown tried to arrange for others to
be paid to take the blame for morphine sulphate and ritalin tablets
found in a police raid.

Antonovich, who admitted to 136 convictions, was called by defence
counsel Tim Fournier on Tuesday to retract an earlier statement he had
made to police.

Antonovich initially told police Brown had convinced three "idiots" to
take the "rap" for his own drug crimes.

Antonovich said he had lied to the police to clear a debt with a
dealer, who had been supplying him with drugs while he was in
Rolleston Prison.

After making the "false" statement, the dealer's partner also gave him
two 60mg morphine sulphate tablets, he said.

Cross-examined by prosecutor Chris Lange, Antonovich denied he was
lying about making a false statement because he was afraid of being
known as a "nark" in prison.

"I have spent most of my life in jail and I know how to handle
myself."

When asked what would happen to a nark, he responded: "Probably get
bashed, stabbed."

Antonovich said he was worried he would be guilty of perjury if he
lied to the court.

When Mr Lange then asked him why he was not worried about admitting to
drug involvement in prison, he said: "That's just if I get charged
with it".

Later, he said he had met Brown only once in jail, and Brown had not
told him to say anything.

"No one pressures me. No one puts words in my mouth."

Earlier, Mr Lange had played tapes of two telephone calls which Brown
made to the woman who had allegedly given Antonovich drugs for making
a false statement.

In the calls, Brown allegedly asked her to convince her partner to
plead guilty for possession of drugs, but not supply.

He told the woman: "The coppers won't buy (the story) but a jury will.
The most you can get for possession is three months."

Both prosecution and defence will make their closing statements
tomorrow.