SECOND US MAN LET OFF OVER DRUGS

The billionaire businessman who walked free from an Auckland court on Friday
was the second American let off drug charges in the court that day.

Just minutes before the case of the super rich America's Cup visitor, Judge
David Harvey discharged an American caught at Auckland Airport trying to
bring cannabis into the country.

The court's leniency to the billionaire, whose name was suppressed by Judge
Harvey, made news around the world.

The tycoon's identity was published in newspapers outside the jurisdiction
of New Zealand courts and plastered on the Internet.

Lawyers for the New Zealand Herald will file papers in the Otahuhu District
Court today seeking leave to appeal to the High Court against Judge Harvey's
suppression order.

The billionaire, caught with more than 100g of cannabis resin as he entered
the country, is understood to have agreed to make a donation to Auckland
drug rehabilitation centre Odyssey House.

But he will have little time left to enjoy the America's Cup as the
Immigration Service has slapped a limited purpose permit on him requiring
him to leave the country by Wednesday.

In suppressing his name, Judge Harvey decided that identification would be a
penalty out of proportion to the offence. However, the man was named by at
least three newspapers published in his home city over the weekend.

Judge Harvey earlier entered no conviction against the second man on the
grounds that it could have jeopardised his job as a safety officer and
ordered him to contribute $250 towards the cost of the prosecution.

The billionaire businessman admitted three charges involving more than 100g
of cannabis resin and leaf. Customs officials found 56g of hashish, a
concentrated class B cannabis derivative and 47g of class C cannabis plant
at Auckland Airport and elsewhere.

The immigration permit gave the man seven days stay in the country from the
time he was charged, solely to attend court. There was no room for appeal.

Immigration Minister Lianne Dalziel yesterday that she was keen to discuss
the man's immigration status with her officials.

"I am not going to second-guess the judge's decision.

"All I am saying is that I am interested in the immigration aspects of it
and I am going to have them checked out," she said.

Green Party MP Nandor Tanczos said the failure of the courts to punish the
billionaire was typical of the hypocrisy surrounding cannabis laws.

There are many examples of overseas visitors receiving convictions for drug
importation.

In 1996, a German tourist, Walther Paul Karl-Heinz Burow, was fined $10,000
for bringing in 12.3g of hashish for his own use, and an Austrian tourist,
Torsten Atnickel, was jailed for three weeks for importing 16g.

In 1997, Englishman Christopher Ian Hall got six months periodic detention
for importing 3.4g.

A Californian yachtsman, William Collier, who was caught with half a
kilogram of cannabis, was fined $1300 and thrown out of New Zealand in
November 1998.

Two years ago, American businessman Robert Lindner, of the Chiquita Bananas
empire, was fined $12,500 and thrown out for importing cocaine and cannabis
for his own use. He brought in 11g of cocaine, and 8g of cannabis,
discovered during an airport strip search.

A German family, the Schiers, were deported last year after Guenther Schier
failed to declare German drug convictions on his entry to New Zealand 10
years earlier.