Wellington Bird Rehabilitation Trust founder Craig Shepherd keeps security licence despite assault convictions
By Jeremy Wilkinson, Open Justice reporter of
Craig Shepherd
Photo:
Bill Hickman / RNZ
A bird rehabilitation centre founder and security company owner will be allowed to keep his security licence, despite being convicted of assault charges against women.
In 2023, Craig Shepherd pleaded guilty to four charges of assault in relation to three women, two of them employees of the Wellington Bird Rehabilitation Trust, as well as a third woman, who had dropped off an injured bird.
In 2019, he touched one employee on the lower back and patted her on the bottom, after saying: "I've been watching you, you have been a naughty girl."
Shepherd placed his hands around the waist of a second employee that same year and kissed the back of her neck, and on another occasion, patted her on the backside with a piece of cardboard and followed her, repeatedly hitting her with it.
Then, in 2021, a member of the public came to the trust's premises at Shepherd's house, with an injured bird and a donation.
Shepherd reached out as if he wanted a hug, before rubbing the $20 note she'd given him across her chest and then kissed her firmly on the lips. The woman gathered her belongings and ran towards the door.
Shepherd was originally charged with indecent assault and pleaded not guilty, but he pleaded guilty in the Wellington District Court to the charges, after they were downgraded to male assaults female.
Shepherd was denied permanent name suppression and a discharge without conviction, and ordered to pay each of his three victims $1500. He unsuccessfully appealed that ruling to both the High Court and the Court of Appeal.
The bird trust that Shepherd runs in Wellington is supported financially by his business Harbour City Security, which offers services such as alarm and camera installation, and monitoring for residential homes and commercial businesses.
Security businesses and the people who run them are required to hold a Certificate of Authority, which licenses them to undertake different forms of security work.
After Shepherd's conviction, the police and the New Zealand Security Association (NZSA) made complaints about him, and his suitability to hold one of these certificates.
Despite the Private Security Personnel Licensing Authority finding there were grounds for disqualification, Shepherd will be allowed to keep his certificate, as long as he receives no further complaints.
One of his former employees and victims believes it is "appalling" that Shepherd is still allowed to run his business.
"I don't think he should be allowed to run any business, let alone a security business," she told
NZME
. "It's really concerning that he's allowed to keep practising."
At a hearing this year, Shepherd told the authority he no longer hugged visitors without obtaining permission first, despite - in the past - treating everyone as guests, which he conceded led to the complaints against him.
Shepherd also said he was physically standoffish with people he didn't know and now "views most women now as a potential complainant".
As part of his submissions, Craig said he'd been in business for 50 years and these were his first complaints. He provided 23 references, 16 of which were from women, in support of his character.
Shepherd's primary submission was that he had learned from his mistakes and worked hard to make sure nothing similar occurred again.
He told
NZME
that he had a "wary eye on anybody coming in here now", when asked about his submissions that he viewed women as potential complainants, but declined to comment further on this point.
Shepherd said he was pleased to be given an opportunity to carry on the career he'd been in for 50 years.
At the same hearing, police said Shepherd was no longer suitable to be a security provider, noting that his offending had a sexual overtone and occurred in an environment where he held the balance of power.
New Zealand Security Association chief executive Gary Morrison said in submissions to the authority that the public should be able to trust security providers and that several other security professionals were concerned that Shepherd continued to operate his business, despite his convictions.
He told
NZME
he was disappointed with the outcome, but understood how the authority had reached its decision.
"It's important that the public can have trust and faith in security providers," he said. "We had a number of security providers who were aware of the issues and raised their concerns, and were concerned it was impacting public confidence."
Authority member Kate Lash said that, while Shepherd continued to deny there was any sexual element to his offending, he pleaded guilty to a summary of facts to the contrary.
"Convictions relating to actions by an older male against a younger female, the former of whom is in a position of disproportionate power, are extremely serious," Lash said.
"That is particularly so, when the male holds other positions of authority, such as being a security provider and sole director of a reputable security company."
Lash said Shepherd clearly regretted his actions and had tried to make amends for them, had changed his outlook on life and appeared to be at low risk of re-offending.
Lash said she did not find it in the public interest to cancel Shepherd's security licence and approved his application to waive his disqualification.
Despite this, Lash found that the defendant still lacked insight into his offending.
"His assertion that the victims did not demonstrate discomfort with his behaviour suggests a limited understanding of the complex considerations a woman may face, when deciding how to respond in such circumstances," she said.
"Furthermore, his belief that it is easy for a woman to lodge a complaint in such situations reflects a misunderstanding of the social and personal barriers that often make reporting difficult."
Shepherd was reprimanded, and given a "final warning" in that he would likely have his certificate cancelled or suspended, if he received any more complaints of a similar nature.
* This story originally appeared in the
New Zealand Herald.
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