Man fined for throwing horse poo over politician

A veteran protester in New Zealand has been found guilty of throwing a bucket of watered-down horse manure over former ACT leader John Banks last year. Judge Anne Kiernan ordered Castislav "Sam" Bracanov to pay $400 plus court costs at the Auckland District Court on Monday. Judge Kiernan said Bracanov did not dispute what happened last year. The issue was that Bracanov believed he was not guilty of the assault because he thought Banks deserved to have manure thrown over him, she said. While Bracanov believed he had done the right thing, he did not produce any legal defense to the charge, the judge said. Bracanov said he would do it again and said the judge was "not human" for finding him guilty. The judge reminded Bracanov he could appeal the decision.

During the trial the judge watched a recording of a police interview with Bracanov where he explained how he hid behind a car, waiting to throw the manure over Banks outside the High Court in Auckland on May 19 last year. The 79-year-old said he got the manure from a paddock at Mangere Bridge in South Auckland, and watered it down. Bracanov said he believed Banks owed him $8,000 because he was fined $10,000 in 1992 for throwing manure on a visiting royal Rolls Royce but should have only been fined $2,000. Banks was police minister at the time. Banks said he did not harbor any animosity towards Bracanov. The incident happened on the first day of the former MP's High Court trial on charges of knowingly filing a false electoral return relating to his failed 2010 bid for the Auckland mayoralty.

Banks was later found guilty but the conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal late last year and a retrial ordered.​ Speaking outside the court on Monday, Banks said he would prefer not to be at the trial and that he did not make a complaint about the manure incident. Banks, who was summoned to give evidence, said Bracanov was an old man who was not well. The trial was repeatedly delayed while Bracanov, who defended himself, prepared for the judge-alone trial and technology issues were resolved. Bracanov arrived at the court wearing his slippers and before the trial began, clearly restated his not guilty plea on the charge of common assault. Speaking before the trial, Bracanov said he and Banks were now "square", and he now had respect for Banks.

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At a previous court appearance on the charge Bracanov said the muck throwing was an act of revenge. Banks, who was the first witness, said an "old man" who seemed "very angry" and "very agitated" tipped a bucket of horse manure over him. Banks said the muck ruined his suit and did not help with his day at court. "The last thing I needed on that morning was an altercation with anyone," he said. Banks was then given leave by the High Court to go home and change his clothes before his trial began. When asked by police prosecutor Joon Yi how he knew it was horse manure Banks said: "It certainly smelled like horse manure and it looked like horse manure, so it must have been horse manure." Banks said the manure was "very sloppy" and he feared there would be a further altercation or more manure coming his way after the first incident, so he went into the court building with his friends to get away from "the old man" whom he now knew to be Bracanov.