Thai souvenirs land Liesl in court

DAVID WHITE/Sunday Star Times

KNIVES OUT: $10 knives mistakenly packed in a Dunedin student's hand luggage saw her standing trial at the Auckland High Court.

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Books, socks, toothbrush, a pair of Thai knives... oops.

The $10 knives mistakenly packed in a Dunedin student's hand luggage saw her standing trial at the Auckland High Court last week.

Liesl van Wyk, 24, had never been in trouble with the police until she absent-mindedly put the knives she had bought on holiday in Thailand in her hand-luggage and tried to board a domestic flight in February.

A jury last week acquitted van Wyk on two counts of taking an offensive weapon on a plane after less than 10 minutes' deliberation.

The South African immigrant of five years told the Sunday Star-Times the experience had taught her a very valuable lesson "be careful... and don't run late packing for a flight".

The then Bachelor of Science student had been running late while packing her belongings for an Auckland flight to Dunedin when she threw odds and ends into her hand luggage. She had to transport all her belongings, including her cat, for the start of the new university year.

"Her check-in baggage was already overweight and we were just trying to get everything in," her mum Catharina told the Star-Times.

The flick knife and butterfly knife had been stored in a tin and out of mind for over a month and because it was fairly heavy went straight into one of her four carry bags, she said.

At the security check van Wyk confidently pushed the bags through the x-ray machine.

"When they first found the knives I was not too concerned," she said.

But when she was not simply given the option of throwing the items out she quickly became worried. "The aviation security guy said, `We have to call the police'. It was a big surprise. I thought, `oh dear'."

She was promptly interviewed, arrested by airport police and charged.

"I was pretty shocked and crying my mum was crying," she said.

The worst part for her was being kept in the high court cells during the one-day trial on Wednesday. "I just sat there thinking, `You don't know how many murderers and rapists have been here.'

"It was just so dirty, the toilets were dirty and there was no toilet paper or anything."

It had been a traumatic experience and cost her about $2000 in flights to and from Auckland for court appearances. But now that it was all over she could laugh about it, she said.

The high court trial would have cost around $50,000, it is understood. Legal aid paid for van Wyk's defence.

But why the knives? "I've always collected knives. In South Africa I had quite a collection. I don't know why I've always had a fancy for knives."

- © Fairfax NZ News