Interesting Names

ᔥ NZ Herald

Looks like “The Comedian” who got of any real punishment for his crime because he “makes people laugh” is having his sentencing reviewed:

A judge who allowed a comedian to walk free from an indecent assault charge against his 4-year-old daughter made an error of law, the High Court at Auckland has been told.

The comedian – whose name is suppressed to protect the identity of his daughter – was discharged without conviction at the Auckland District Court last September for performing an indecent act on his daughter.

But the Crown has sought a judicial review in the High Court.

If Justice Murray Gilbert finds there has been an error, he could send the case back to the Auckland District Court for the comedian to be sentenced.

Judges can discharge defendants without conviction if they believe that the consequences of a conviction would outweigh the gravity of the crime.

Crown lawyer Mark Lillico told the court today that the district court judge failed to recognise the seriousness of the offending, given the man had admitted to indecently assaulting his daughter.

Mr Lillico said although there were mitigating factors for the comedian, he was a father who had offended against his daughter, it was sexual offending and there was a large disparity in ages.

“There were serious consequences but it was serious offending.”

He said the judge also took into account that the comedian was intoxicated when she said he had a “low consciousness of action”.

“By doing so it seems to have watered down the level of intent required in a criminal offence.”

He said the comedian had pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting his daughter and that carries an admission of intent.

Derryn Hinch isn’t afraid of Australian courts, he tweeted this yesterday:

That Sydney sex offender jailed for abusing step-daughter. Name suppressed because it could affect his business I’ll name him.3AW 4pm.

— Derryn Hinch (@HumanHeadline) April 2, 2012

Someone complained that it would hurt the victim, to which Hinch replied:

@ellymc @Steph_Philbrick The victim asked me to.Wouldn’t have done it otherwise

— Derryn Hinch (@HumanHeadline) April 2, 2012

Now it is all over the news:

THE broadcaster Derryn Hinch has defended naming a man convicted of sexual misconduct with his stepdaughter, despite in effect breaking a court suppression order.

On his Melbourne radio program yesterday, Hinch named the prominent Sydney property developer who was sentenced last week to 18 months’ jail in the District Court.

An edited version of the text of the show appeared on the station’s website but the full version appeared on Hinch’s Human Headline blog with the disclaimer ”A Warning! Access Illegal in NSW”.

The convicted man’s barrister, Anthony Bellanto, QC, last week successfully argued to have the defendant’s name suppressed in NSW to ”minimise any ongoing damage to his reputation”.

Hinch wrote in his blog that Mr Bellanto asked the District Court Judge Ken Taylor to ”reduce the damage that will no doubt occur if these matters reach the [media]”.

Patrick George, a senior partner at the Sydney law firm Kennedys, said Hinch had in effect opened himself to contempt of court given that anyone from NSW could access the article.

”He has effectively published the name by putting it on the [website], and if it’s accessible in NSW, despite his disclaimer, the means of access that he’s given people means that he’s published it,” Mr George said.

”I think he’s in breach of the suppression order.”

The new name suppression laws came into effect yesterday. I feel pretty chuffed that I forced this to happen:

Law reforms making it harder to get name suppression came into effect yesterday, in what Justice Minister Judith Collins says represents a substantial reform to criminal procedure.

Ms Collins says the new legislation should add clarity to the laws surrounding name suppression, which she says “could be granted too easily and inconsistently” prior to the legislation.

The Criminal Procedure Act 2011, which contains the new legislation, “sets out a clear set of criteria for the courts to use when deciding whether suppression is appropriate or not”, she says.

Before the law change, defendants could be granted name suppression when publication of their name could have resulted in ‘undue’ hardship for them or others. This has now been raised to ‘extreme’ hardship – and being in the public eye isn’t enough for automatic suppression.

There will be no presumption of extreme hardship simply because a defendant is well-known, which Ms Collins says upholds the principle of “open justice”.

“There is no reason for a defendant to get name suppression simply because they are famous.”

A teacher has been hiding behind name suppression while working in schools, worse he has committed offenses again:

A convicted sex offender has been working in schools as a teacher, Education Minister Hekia Parata has announced.

Parata said the schools affected had been notified.

A ministerial inquiry, led by former ombudsman Mel Smith, would be held into how the sex offender was employed. The person had been registered as a teacher since 2000.

“At this stage I cannot discuss the details of this individual case as the matter is now before the courts [in Auckland],” Parata said.

She was “extremely concerned” and was told late last week that the person had been arrested for breaching a condition of their release. The person was in custody.

The Ministry of Education was working with the schools and their communities but it was possible others had been affected, Parata said.

“Parents should be able to send their children to school confident that an individual of this type is not part of that school environment,” she said.

The ministry had asked the courts to vary suppression orders so other schools and parents could be informed.

This is the problem with name suppression, offenders can hide, or change their name and then sneak into positions that exposes more potential victims to their predations.

The ministerial inquiry into the matter would report back by April 30, Parata said.

It would consider the specific means by which the sex offender was able to “exploit opportunities” in the system and how it could be strengthened to prevent it happening again.

The terms of reference included looking at the Teachers Council’s involvement in employee vetting and registration, information sharing with wider government departments and the process taken by schools for vetting prospective employees.

The Teachers Council is part of the problem not part of the solution. They routine suppress details of teachers before them on disciplinary matters. Even Trevor Mallard has locked horns with them over this.

Unsurprisingly [Name removed because a stupid Judge bought a sob story from a fee fixer lawyer and retrospectively applied name suppression despite every news agency in the country reporting his name] has been arrested again:

A high-profile Auckland property developer was taken away by police who raided a central city apartment building this morning, says the man’s son.

A swarm of armed and plainclothes officers descended on a Karaka St address – described by one resident as Auckland’s ‘Hotel California’ – in Eden Terrace about 5.30am.

They executed search warrants as part of an ongoing investigation by the Auckland City child exploitation team.

The police systematically checked each of the 28 flats at the three-level Artizanz Apartments building and arrested two men and a teenage girl.

The building’s owner, property developer [Name removed because a stupid Judge bought a sob story from a fee fixer lawyer and retrospectively applied name suppression despite every news agency in the country reporting his name], was taken to the police station, said his son [Name removed because a stupid Judge bought a sob story from a fee fixer lawyer and retrospectively applied name suppression despite every news agency in the country reporting his name].

He said his father had been taken away in handcuffs.

This will be another case of Vitamin P addiction.

UPDATE: An ill formed Judge retrospectively applied name suppression in this case, after Barry Hart the lawyer currently being investigated for rigging his fees sold the Judge a nice sob story.

Honestly where do we get these Judges from? …this one has given a veteran sholifter with a previous record name suppression because it might hurt her career. Well boo hoo.

A Hawke’s Bay early childhood teacher has won her bid for name suppression after admitting two counts of shoplifting.

The woman appeared in Hastings District Court yesterday and successfully avoided both a conviction and the publication of her name.

Two charges of shoplifting arose from separate incidents where she stole clothing from the same Havelock North fashion store in October last year.

Defence lawyer Bill Calver said his client suffered from a mental illness at the time of the offending and argued the theft had “bizarre overtones” and was “unlike most shoplifting offending”.

On October 29 the woman walked back to the store in question to re-offend wearing the very clothing item she stole from the business on October 1, he said.

He pushed for a discharge without conviction and said the publication of her name would be “highly disadvantageous”.

“Her career would be over,” Mr Calver said.

Last year she was given police diversion for further shoplifting after stealing four handbags.

Police senior prosecutor Andy Horne opposed suppression and claimed retailers had the right to know her identity.

She has a temporary mental illness that conveniently only reoccurs when she is stealing stuff? …it’s called kleptomania.

Two men have been arrested and charged for the killing of Radio NZ  journalist Phillip Cottrell:

A 17-year-old youth had the support of his family who called out “mama loves you” and “take care boy” when he appeared in court today charged with the brutal murder of a Wellington journalist.

The teenager, who cannot be identified, appeared before Judge Carrie Wainwright in Wellington District Court this afternoon alongside his co-accused, Nicho Waipuka, 19.

The Lower Hutt teenagers are accused of murdering Radio New Zealand journalist Phillip Cottrell.

Cottrell, 43, died in hospital on Sunday after he was attacked in central Wellington early on Saturday on his way home from work as a bulletins editor at the state broadcaster.

Defence lawyer Mike Antunovich successfully argued for name and image suppression for the 17-year-old.

Mr Antunovich said many family members were yet to be told of the charge against the youth, who will reappear in court on Friday.

I find the weasel excuses of family members not being told about an arrest pathetic. Phillip Cottrell’s family have had to be told of his death and there was no hiding from that. Name Suppression shouldn’t be available for silly reasons like that. It is also clear his family were in the court calling out that his “mama” loved him.

The strangest decision though is this from the Judge:

Waipuka was remanded in custody without plea until December 21.

His lawyer, Rob Stevens, successfully argued that Waipuka’s image should be suppressed but said his name had already been widely published so there was little to be gained in seeking name suppression.

This is utterly ridiculous. The police issued a mug-shot to media the day before and his image was published in every daily paper, and on multiple websites. The judges suppression order now means the Police have broken the law. His image is on 3News several times, TVNZ, Voxy, GayNZ, Scoop, NewstalkZB, Otago Daily Times, not to mention the offenders own Facebook Page.

Judges wonder why people mock them, but when you see utterly ridiculous suppression orders like this one you really have to wonder if they are actually propoerly qualified to make these judgements.

On Saturday the NZ Herald ran an article about NZ’s most dangerous stalker. It named him and the details of his crimes.

If this man had name suppression then what has happened since could never have happened:

More women have come forward complaining of harassment by the man described as New Zealand’s “most dangerous stalker” since his release from prison last month.

In three weeks of freedom, Glenn Green is now a suspect in at least one new case – and possibly more – of alleged harassment, on top of the case involving a 19-year-old woman that put him back in custody last week.

Some of the new women are said by police to have a “public profile” – it is understood they have appeared on television.

Green, 41, appeared in North Shore District Court on Friday on a charge of harassment of a teenager and was remanded in custody until January 12.

Green denied the charge and his lawyer said that “as soon as he was told to desist, he did desist”.

Detective Sergeant James Watson, of North Shore, said a young Devonport woman had come forward with a further complaint against Green at the weekend after seeing his photo in the Weekend Herald. “Every person that comes and makes a complaint we can go and lay more charges,” Mr Watson said.

“He’s got 227 convictions.”

The woman had been “freaked out” by constant harassment similar to what was alleged for the 19-year-old, he said. The court heard that teen had left her family home and changed her phone number to avoid Green.

He had been out of prison for only a week when he started contacting her, said the police prosecutor in court.

The Maori party has called for parliament to act on name suppression:

The Maori Party is calling for name suppression laws to change as soon as possible, after a former All Black was granted name suppression after pleading guilty to assaulting a child.

He appeared in Auckland District Court yesterday charged with the September assault, the New Zealand Herald reports.

Another former All Black appeared in Wellington District Court two weeks ago, charged with assaulting his partner while celebrating the All Blacks’ World Cup final victory, resisting police and possessing cannabis. He was also given name suppression.

Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia has slammed the most recent name suppression.

“In this morning’s paper we have the ludicrous situation of two individuals involved in cases of child assault – one protected and the other exposed to public scrutiny,” Ms Turia said.

She was referring to the case of Auckland mother Mellissa Anderson, who was refused name suppression while facing charges for allegedly slapping a 14-year-old girl who attacked her daughter, Summer, outside school last week.

Ms Turia says it “makes a mockery of the justice system” that a 13-year-old girl’s identity was released into the public arena, while a former All Black can keep his name secret.

“For former All Black players, there appears to be another set of standards at play,” she said.

I said at the time that Simon Power’s law changes would be ignored by Judges. I know the law doesn’t come into effect for several more months but I rpredict that the status quo will continue to exist. The law changes didn’t go far enough in removing name suppression and protecting the innocent victims.

Now an ex-All Black is smearing the names of other former team mates through his cowardice.

Simon Power touted his name suppression changes as being able to stop people getting name suppression because they were famous:

A well-known former rugby player has pleaded guilty in the Auckland District Court to a charge of assaulting a child.

The sportsman, who was granted interim name suppression, admitted to an incident on September 27 in what police have called an act of excessive discipline.

He was granted name suppression because of his standing in sporting circles and in the community.

Well he should have thought about that when he bashed his kid shouldn’t he. Quite happy for the profile on the field but not happy for the profile for beating a child.

Some tough guy he is, afraid of his own name.

Simon Power won’t care he has retired and got his cushy job at Westpac.