Nelson woman Rose Renton has denied a charge of offensive behaviour for rubbing rat poison on former Environment minister Nick Smith.
The activist appeared at Nelson District Court on Friday for a defended hearing, with Dr Smith appearing to tell his version of events.
The charge relates back to an event in September 2017, when Renton had been concerned by a rat poison drop near her home at Brook Waimarama Sancturary.
Dr Smith was holding a caravan at a local market at the time, so Renton and an associate held a protest there with some rat poison they'd bought from The Warehouse.
Video footage shows both of them throwing pellets and rubbing the poison on Dr Smith's caravan, his table and even his lapel.
Renton isn't denying that happened, but instead she says it was anything but offensive behaviour. She says instead it was a symbolic protest.
Dr Smith says it went too far and appeared in court on Friday as a witness. However he was a little bit hazy when it came to the events of eight months ago.
"I specifically saw the defendant throwing poison, I specifically saw the defendant rubbing poison on the carpet of the caravan, rubbing poison on the table outside it and also rubbing poison on myself," Dr Smith told the court.
The case was supposed to end on Friday, but has instead been adjourned until early in June.
Newshub.
