Judge queries health of witness in Nattrass case

A judge questioned the health of a 'nervous' witness yesterday whose illness had forced a Hong Kong court to hear his testimony in New Zealand.

After three days of listening to the star prosecution witness in the Aaron Nattrass fraud case, District Court Judge Duncan Kilgour queried the extent of the man's illness.

'He doesn't seem to me to be under any physical hardship,' he said.

Tony Anisy, a former Hong Kong-based immigration officer for New Zealand, seemed 'nervous', but 'witnesses often do', the judge said.

The Hong Kong court moved to Auckland last week after the prosecution claimed Mr Anisy could not travel to the territory because of his illness, the nature of which has yet to be disclosed.

Nattrass, 37, faces 13 charges of deception, forgery and fraud relating to his work in 1988 as a New Zealand immigration consultant. He denies the charges.