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Stacy Squires / Stuff
Jail attorney Arthur Taylor faces a new series of charges. (File photo)
Prominent prisoner advocate Arthur Taylor has appeared in court on serious drug charges.
Arthur Taylor, a jail attorney and former inmate, appeared before Judge Kevin Phillips in Dunedin District Court on Thursday.
Taylor faces a dozen charges, including supplying methamphetamine and gamma-butyrolactone (GBL), which is considered a more potent version of GHB (also known as fantasy or liquid ecstasy). Court documents indicate that the alleged crime occurred earlier this year.
Taylor was called to prison Saturday after police filed charges in Wellington.
His attorney, Anne Stevens QC, said he pleaded not guilty to all charges and chose a jury trial.
Judge Phillips put Taylor in pretrial detention until Jan.8 and said he would reconsider his bond at a later date.
Taylor taught himself law in prison and successfully faced several prisoners’ rights cases against Corrections and Crown.
He launched his own legal business from behind bars and successfully prosecuted a jail witness for perjury, shortly before being released on parole in 2019.
