The trial of a 71-year-old Ōhope man who triggered a bomb scare at Whakatāne District Council last year began in the Whakatāne District Court last Thursday.

Gordon John Dickson faced charges of trespassing and making a false statement that an offence has been committed after tossing an empty suitcase through the doors of the council chamber’s foyer on May 24, 2024, a part of the building he had previously been trespassed from.

Dickson was served a notice by the council on May 16 stating he was trespassed from the council chambers and surrounding areas for three months.

Police witness Carl Redaelli, the council’s community regulation manager, gave evidence that he had been authorised by one of the council’s general managers to serve the trespass notice.

The notice was because of Dickson’s behaviour toward council employees on May 13 during hearings on the council’s long-term plan, which were open to the public.

Mr Redaelli said Dickson had approached several staff members and used his phone to record or take photos of them “at very close range”.

“This had left staff both upset and fearful as to why he was doing it,” Mr Redaelli said.

The trespass notice included maps showing specific areas of the council building Dickson was trespassed from, which showed he still had access to the front counter but not the council chamber or public meeting rooms or gallery area.

Just before 2pm on May 24, the same date rates were due to be paid, Mr Redaelli was informed by the customer services manager that a customer had approached staff at the front counter and told them a man had thrown a suitcase through the electric doors into the gallery that leads to the council chambers.

After being shown the red suitcase lying beside the electric doors leading into the gallery, he asked staff to prevent anyone entering the area. He reported the matter to the police and after briefing general manager Nicholas Woodley on the situation, they agreed to evacuate the building.

He was then shown CCTV footage of a person throwing the suitcase into the building and identified the person as Dickson.

Earlier that same day, Mr Redaelli was informed by customer services that Dickson had come to the front counter and left a number of clear plastic bags with coins in them. He had told the staff member it was to be put towards his rates.

“He left the customer service area without waiting for the coins to be counted. He appeared to be unhappy with the staff or the council,” Mr Redaelli said.

“I viewed the bags. In my opinion, it had been done to make it more difficult to be counted.”

He advised the staff member to photograph the bags and count the coins manually and then have a staff member from the finance team complete a separate count.

After the building had been evacuated following the suitcase incident, police advised Mr Redaelli they had called the Auckland-based bomb disposal unit, which was en-route to Whakatāne.

Mr Redaelli offered to arrange road closure at the direction of police, which was duly carried out.

The building was locked down, preventing staff from accessing it.

Later, Mr Redaelli observed Dickson walk toward the building from the Shapley Place side. He appeared agitated and tried to walk away from the police. He was surrounded by police and placed in handcuffs.

Police spoke to him and walked him to the doors where the suitcase was. Police cleared the suitcase and declared it non-threatening.

Mr Dickson was taken away by the police, along with the suitcase.

Dickson’s lawyer, Leonard Hemi, said Dickson did not dispute his actions on May 24. His defence was that the council’s reasons for issuing him with a trespass notice initially were not reasonable or sufficient and the rules of natural justice required him to have access to a public place.

Due to time constraints on the day of the trial, it was adjourned until December 19.

Mr Hemi said he expected Dickson’s evidence alone to take up to an hour of court time.