[1] ESSON, J.A.: Mr. Platt appeals from his conviction after trial before a Provincial Court judge of trafficking in a controlled substance. The trial was conducted entirely on the basis of an agreed statement of facts.

[2] It appears that one Manolakos, the proprietor of a pizza establishment, while carrying on a pizza business was also carrying on a very extensive business in the distribution and sale of cocaine. Mr. Platt was observed to attend at the pizza establishment for some 35 consecutive days while it was under "surveillance". He was apparently always accompanied by the co-accused, a young woman who was acquitted at the conclusion of the trial. On the day in question, the appellant was observed to drive a vehicle to a shopping centre where Manolakos met with an undercover police officer. There was an initial attendance at the parking area, then a return to the pizza establishment, and then a drive back to the parking area where a pizza box was turned over to the undercover officer in his vehicle. That pizza box contained a very substantial amount of cocaine.

[3] The issue in the case was whether the agreed facts provided an adequate basis to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Platt had knowledge of the nature of the substance. The trial judge held that he did but in doing so, with respect, he seemed to place undue weight on the circumstance that, on the facts as we now know them, the appellant was aiding in the commission of the offence by driving the vehicle.

[4] The difficulty is, in my view, that the agreed facts are equally consistent with the view that, until the box was turned over to the undercover officer, the appellant could have believed the contents of the box to be pizza. I do not think the case illustrates any particular principle other than the necessity to prove the offence beyond a reasonable doubt and it is, of course, entirely a case of circumstantial evidence entirely. Certainly there were grounds for serious suspicion but in my view not enough to found a conviction, and I would therefore allow the appeal and enter an acquittal.

[5] CUMMING, J.A. I agree.

[6] HALL, J.A. I agree.

[7] ESSON, J.A. So ordered.