The Auckland’s businessman’s lawyer John Billington QC told a disputed facts hearing that when Kerr sent the letters threatening to lace milk powder with 1080 poison in late 2014 he was not acting solely with the intention of benefitting himself.
Kerr formulated a rival poison, Feratox, which could be used only as a ground bait and the Crown evidence was that sales would increase, at least initially, if 1080 poisoning was stopped.
But Billington said the benefit to Kerr might be in the order of $10,000 or 10% of the royalties he received annually from Feratox.
“That’s minimal,” he said.
The markets for 1080 and Feratox were totally different and if 1080 disappeared it would quickly be replaced by another aerial bait such as zinc phosphate. He suggested the Crown was struggling in its attempt to look for a rational explanation for Kerr’s behavior.
“His conduct was wholly irrational,” he said.
“If you’re trying to apply a rational template you won’t find it. It’s not there.”
Crown solicitor Christine Gordon GQ said financial gain was front and centre of his motivation.
Billington said Kerr’s offence had many layers to it. But when everything was stripped away it was astonishingly simple.
“It’s quite a long bow to draw with the inference that this would have improved his financial position,” he said.
“It was an act of incredible stupidity and irrationality by someone, who on any account, should have known better.”
Chief High Court Judge Geoffrey Venning said Kerr now accepted the amount of 1080 he included in the letters to Federated Farmers and Fonterra could have been fatal to a number of infants.
Any altruistic opposition he had to the use of 1080 was inconsistent with the letters themselves which were more directed at a total ban of 1080 rather than limiting indiscriminate use.
The result was the launch of a major 10-month long investigation which involved 35 police staff plus seconded analysts.
A total of 2600 industry people were assessed with Kerr being visited by detective Andre de Villiers in late June last year.
A DNA sample was taken from him and when he posted a retraction letter to the detective a week later DNA traces found on it were found to be 260 times more likely to come from him or a close male relative than anyone else.
Kerr will be sentenced on two charges of attempted blackmail on March 23.
