Jury fails in 'poaching trial'

2004-12-02 09:14

Perth - A jury trying five crew of a Uruguayan fishing boat accused of poaching in Australia's Antarctic waters was dismissed on Thursday after failing to reach a verdict despite four days of deliberation at the end of a nine-week trial.

The long-liner Viarsa was finally boarded after a dramatic three-week pursuit by an Australian customs vessel that began in the mountainous waters of the Southern Ocean on August 7 last year, and continued for more than 7 000km.

After the longest hot pursuit in Australian maritime history, the Viarsa was eventually boarded on August 27 by customs officials backed by armed South African police, who participated in the pursuit.

The West Australian District Court jury was told the Viarsa had almost 97 tonnes of the rare but valuable Patagonian toothfish aboard, along with 92 tonnes of bait and hundreds of boxes of fish products when it was finally inspected.

Pleaded not guilty

The Viarsa's Uruguayan captain Ricardo Cabrera, 58, Spanish officers Antonio Perez, 40, Francisco Olveira, 40, and Jose Perez, 38, and Chilean crewman Roberto Guerrero pleaded not guilty to using a foreign vessel for commercial fishing in Australian waters.

Cabrera and Perez also denied a charge of intentionally having in their charge in the Australian Fishing Zone (AFZ), a foreign boat equipped for fishing.

Judge Paul Healy dismissed the jury after they reported they were unable to reach the unanimous decision required under Australian law.

On Tuesday the jury foreman wrote a letter to the court stating deliberations had "degenerated into personal conflict" after one juror refused to take part in further discussions.

"Without her participation there seems little hope for anyone wishing to take an alternate position," it read.

Healy directed the jurors to try again to resolve the conflict, but the jury announced on Thursday that it could not reach consensus and the five were released on bail and pending a status conference on January 31 to decide whether to attempt another trial.

- AFP