Aussie Magistrate Does Not Buy KL Knifepoint Robbery Story

By Neville D'Cruz

MELBOURNE, March 23 (Bernama) -- A Diners Club Australia member has been ordered to pay an A$16,000 debt for jewellery he claimed he was forced to buy at knifepoint by a gang of four kidnappers in Kuala Lumpur.

Richard James Stocks, 35, detailed an ordeal that started last year in Kuala Lumpur with his kerbside abduction and ended in losing a courtroom fight to deny liability, The Age newspaper reported.

The IT consultant told the Melbourne Magistrate's Court that he was driven to various shopping centres in KL over seven hours by his captors on Feb 24, who "used me as a tool" to make or attempt purchases worth more than A$37,000.

His lawyer, Geoff Block, said Stocks' main concern was "the preservation of life and limb" while on a business trip.

"To achieve this, he had to comply with his captors' demands," Block said.

The newspaper said Stocks denied Diners Club counsel Mark Purvis' suggestion that the woman captured on CCTV footage with him at the stores was a "female acquaintance" he was shopping with.

He also denied Purvis' proposition that he had earlier been "placed in a compromising position" and then blackmailed to buy the jewellery but needed a story to tell his wife if she found out.

Stocks also disagreed with Purvis who suggested he had been a "willing participant" in the transactions but needed an explanation for his family, friends and employer why the items appeared on his Diners Club statement.

The court heard two transactions attempted by Stocks that day were declined before Diners Club allowed one for A$16,493, the newspaper said.

Stocks said he was robbed of his camera and accessories, an electronic game and a mobile phone - but not his wallet or a second phone - and was also forced to withdraw about A$700 from an ATM.

He said he had no recollection of buying or signing for the jewellery until told by Diners Club.

In finding for Diners Club, magistrate Peter Lauritsen described as "pathetic" Stocks' report to police and his behaviour as so bizarre that "I cannot accept that it's truthful".

Stocks were ordered to pay $16,493 to Diners Club and a total of $9,882 in interest and costs.