A longtime Queenstown chef and hospo identity who was listed to appear in court on serious drug charges this week turned out to be overseas.
Ben Norfolk, 43, formerly head chef and shareholder in high-end CBD restaurant The Bunker, is facing charges of supplying LSD and administering LSD.
The charges, which were filed in the Queenstown District Court last month, relate to alleged offending in the resort town on August 4-5 in 2023.
The latter charge relates to causing another person to consume LSD, a Class A-controlled hallucinogenic drug.
Addressing Judge Mark Williams at the hearing on December 1, prosecutor Sergeant Sam Baker said Norfolk had left the country, and was ‘‘not planning to return’’.
That prompted Judge Williams to comment he was not surprised, given the seriousness of the charges.
He issued a warrant for Norfolk's arrest, which means he could be detained at the border when he returns to the country.
However, Norfolk has since contacted the Otago Daily Times to say he was not made aware of the charges, or the court hearing, until after he departed overseas for a holiday.
He said he would return to New Zealand next month.
Norfolk, who was the subject of a profile piece in the Otago Daily Times three years ago, had lived in Queenstown since 2008, apart from a three-year stint across the Tasman.
Throughout most of that time he was head chef at The Bunker, and became a shareholder in 2019.
Company records show he was removed as a shareholder in February.
- This story has been updated.
