In the High Court at Christchurch, Justice Gerald Nation found largely in favour of Jasper Ross Clark against stock and station firm Rural Livestock. He awarded Clark more than $270,000 plus interest and costs - far less than the nearly $640,000 the Milton farmer had sought. The judge said there was no dispute that Rural Livestock invoiced Clark for the cows and Clark paid the bill, but what happened to the cows was problematic. "Under cross-examination, Mr Williams said he had arranged the lease of 90 heifers to Mr Bouma and the remainder to a farmer in Canterbury," the judgement says. That person acknowledged the firm's "systems and management inadvertently allowed Mr Williams' irregularities to occur unnoticed and then failed to detect them for some time."

Source: Otago Daily Times April 05, 2019 15:22 UTC