Aust diplomat's husband walks after spitting on woman
A New Zealand court has discharged the husband of an Australian diplomat without convicting him, months after the man pleaded guilty to assault for drunkenly spitting on a teenager during a street altercation on the night of a rugby match in Wellington.
The man was granted permanent name suppression. Judge Paul Mabey, presiding at the Wellington District Court, said he didn't accept the man's arguments that the potential harms to him justified the discharge, but the magistrate agreed that his wife's diplomatic career could be curbed by an assault conviction and the publication of his name.
The man could be barred from travel abroad to her future postings, the judge said on Thursday, and the family could be split up if the Australian High Commission decided he could not remain in New Zealand to preserve the bilateral relations between the countries.
The charges arose after an episode last September after the man attended a rugby match between New Zealand and Australia in the capital. He was drunk when he arrived at Wellington's main nightlife area, where he approached a group of teenagers and became aggressive when they didn't want to engage with him, the judge said.
A member of the group punched the man, who responded by spitting on a young woman. He was arrested by police officers who happened to be passing.
The case has provoked widespread news coverage in New Zealand and Australia along with mobile phone footage of the man's arrest, in which he verbally abused a police officer and claimed he had diplomatic immunity. He had such immunity, conferred by protocol to the partners of senior envoys to New Zealand, which he later waived voluntarily.
He pleaded guilty to New Zealand's lowest level of assault charge in January. It is punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $NZ4000 ($A3700).
"For the avoidance of any doubt at all, he is not here to be sentenced for abusing the police or rashly claiming diplomatic immunity," Judge Mabey said.
"He was right to say he had that immunity," the judge added. "He was completely stupid to say it at all."
But the magistrate said he would discharge the man because of his wife's suggestion that the Australian diplomatic service would be unable to ignore the husband's conviction and the widely-distributed mobile phone video of his arrest when considering her future.
"If I were not to suppress his name, his offending would be inextricably linked to his wife and she would suffer considerably," the judge said.
He rejected a bid by the man's lawyer to suppress the country his wife represented in New Zealand.
A New Zealand court has discharged the husband of an Australian diplomat without convicting him, months after the man pleaded guilty to assault for drunkenly spitting on a teenager during a street altercation on the night of a rugby match in Wellington.
The man was granted permanent name suppression. Judge Paul Mabey, presiding at the Wellington District Court, said he didn't accept the man's arguments that the potential harms to him justified the discharge, but the magistrate agreed that his wife's diplomatic career could be curbed by an assault conviction and the publication of his name.
The man could be barred from travel abroad to her future postings, the judge said on Thursday, and the family could be split up if the Australian High Commission decided he could not remain in New Zealand to preserve the bilateral relations between the countries.
The charges arose after an episode last September after the man attended a rugby match between New Zealand and Australia in the capital. He was drunk when he arrived at Wellington's main nightlife area, where he approached a group of teenagers and became aggressive when they didn't want to engage with him, the judge said.
A member of the group punched the man, who responded by spitting on a young woman. He was arrested by police officers who happened to be passing.
The case has provoked widespread news coverage in New Zealand and Australia along with mobile phone footage of the man's arrest, in which he verbally abused a police officer and claimed he had diplomatic immunity. He had such immunity, conferred by protocol to the partners of senior envoys to New Zealand, which he later waived voluntarily.
He pleaded guilty to New Zealand's lowest level of assault charge in January. It is punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $NZ4000 ($A3700).
"For the avoidance of any doubt at all, he is not here to be sentenced for abusing the police or rashly claiming diplomatic immunity," Judge Mabey said.
"He was right to say he had that immunity," the judge added. "He was completely stupid to say it at all."
But the magistrate said he would discharge the man because of his wife's suggestion that the Australian diplomatic service would be unable to ignore the husband's conviction and the widely-distributed mobile phone video of his arrest when considering her future.
"If I were not to suppress his name, his offending would be inextricably linked to his wife and she would suffer considerably," the judge said.
He rejected a bid by the man's lawyer to suppress the country his wife represented in New Zealand.
A New Zealand court has discharged the husband of an Australian diplomat without convicting him, months after the man pleaded guilty to assault for drunkenly spitting on a teenager during a street altercation on the night of a rugby match in Wellington.
The man was granted permanent name suppression. Judge Paul Mabey, presiding at the Wellington District Court, said he didn't accept the man's arguments that the potential harms to him justified the discharge, but the magistrate agreed that his wife's diplomatic career could be curbed by an assault conviction and the publication of his name.
The man could be barred from travel abroad to her future postings, the judge said on Thursday, and the family could be split up if the Australian High Commission decided he could not remain in New Zealand to preserve the bilateral relations between the countries.
The charges arose after an episode last September after the man attended a rugby match between New Zealand and Australia in the capital. He was drunk when he arrived at Wellington's main nightlife area, where he approached a group of teenagers and became aggressive when they didn't want to engage with him, the judge said.
A member of the group punched the man, who responded by spitting on a young woman. He was arrested by police officers who happened to be passing.
The case has provoked widespread news coverage in New Zealand and Australia along with mobile phone footage of the man's arrest, in which he verbally abused a police officer and claimed he had diplomatic immunity. He had such immunity, conferred by protocol to the partners of senior envoys to New Zealand, which he later waived voluntarily.
He pleaded guilty to New Zealand's lowest level of assault charge in January. It is punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $NZ4000 ($A3700).
"For the avoidance of any doubt at all, he is not here to be sentenced for abusing the police or rashly claiming diplomatic immunity," Judge Mabey said.
"He was right to say he had that immunity," the judge added. "He was completely stupid to say it at all."
But the magistrate said he would discharge the man because of his wife's suggestion that the Australian diplomatic service would be unable to ignore the husband's conviction and the widely-distributed mobile phone video of his arrest when considering her future.
"If I were not to suppress his name, his offending would be inextricably linked to his wife and she would suffer considerably," the judge said.
He rejected a bid by the man's lawyer to suppress the country his wife represented in New Zealand.
A New Zealand court has discharged the husband of an Australian diplomat without convicting him, months after the man pleaded guilty to assault for drunkenly spitting on a teenager during a street altercation on the night of a rugby match in Wellington.
The man was granted permanent name suppression. Judge Paul Mabey, presiding at the Wellington District Court, said he didn't accept the man's arguments that the potential harms to him justified the discharge, but the magistrate agreed that his wife's diplomatic career could be curbed by an assault conviction and the publication of his name.
The man could be barred from travel abroad to her future postings, the judge said on Thursday, and the family could be split up if the Australian High Commission decided he could not remain in New Zealand to preserve the bilateral relations between the countries.
The charges arose after an episode last September after the man attended a rugby match between New Zealand and Australia in the capital. He was drunk when he arrived at Wellington's main nightlife area, where he approached a group of teenagers and became aggressive when they didn't want to engage with him, the judge said.
A member of the group punched the man, who responded by spitting on a young woman. He was arrested by police officers who happened to be passing.
The case has provoked widespread news coverage in New Zealand and Australia along with mobile phone footage of the man's arrest, in which he verbally abused a police officer and claimed he had diplomatic immunity. He had such immunity, conferred by protocol to the partners of senior envoys to New Zealand, which he later waived voluntarily.
He pleaded guilty to New Zealand's lowest level of assault charge in January. It is punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $NZ4000 ($A3700).
"For the avoidance of any doubt at all, he is not here to be sentenced for abusing the police or rashly claiming diplomatic immunity," Judge Mabey said.
"He was right to say he had that immunity," the judge added. "He was completely stupid to say it at all."
But the magistrate said he would discharge the man because of his wife's suggestion that the Australian diplomatic service would be unable to ignore the husband's conviction and the widely-distributed mobile phone video of his arrest when considering her future.
"If I were not to suppress his name, his offending would be inextricably linked to his wife and she would suffer considerably," the judge said.
He rejected a bid by the man's lawyer to suppress the country his wife represented in New Zealand.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
West Australian
37 minutes ago
- West Australian
Australia's Domestic Violence Commissioner Micaela Cronin to address National Press Club
Australia's Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner Micaela Cronin will address the National Press Club alongside Australian Law Reform Commission president Justice Mordy Bromberg on Wednesday. The pair are expected to discuss a 12 month inquiry into justice responses to sexual violence which was tabled earlier this year and found justice systems have failed victim-survivors. It made 64 recommendations to improve their experiences and outcomes, including providing independent legal advisers or justice system 'navigators', creating safe places to disclose, and addressing barriers to engage with justice. During the Inquiry, the commission received 220 submissions from individuals and organisations, and undertook 126 consultations, involving more than 384 consultees. 'The justice system has a critical role to play in ending this harm by providing people who have experienced sexual violence with a safe, informed, and supported way of accessing justice; and by holding perpetrators of sexual violence to account,' Justice Bromberg said. Ms Cronin added: 'We must also recognise that rates of sexual violence are getting worse, and our response is not improving fast enough – it is one of the most harmful, under reported, and under prosecuted crimes'. 'Our shared goal under the National Plan is, and should be, to end domestic, family and sexual violence in one generation. 'This report helps us on that path, now we must act.' Their address comes after a report into men's violence against women released on Tuesday found mental ill health and poor father-son relationships are key factors that could contribute to the issue. The damning new research, which has surveyed more than 16,000 boys and men since 2013, found more than one third of Australian men admitted they've either scared or intimidated their own loved ones. Ms Cronin described that study as a 'world first' which provided important insight into the prevalence of intimate partner violence from the perspective of men's use. 'It's very important that we've got this longitudinal study. It also gives us some really good insights into where we should be looking to support,' she told ABC on Tuesday. 'I'm really hoping that this research will help to inform evidence-based, interventions that will reduce violence, that will help work and focus on what it is that we can do to stop domestic family and sexual violence. 'We need to understand, intervene and prevent men's use of violence because we know that 93 percent of the perpetrators of violence are men and boys. 'We need to be talking about men and boys and how we can support them. Are we at critical times in their lives when they're struggling? Where are all of the intervention points?' Ms Cronin added the study also showed the cost of delayed action: 'What we've seen in this study is an increase in prevalence in the period in the 10 years since it was first conducted'. 'Every next incidence (of violence) in which we haven't acted to protect has lifelong, often harmful impacts on the community and individuals,' she said.
Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
PM ‘scared' to meet Donald Trump in the White House
The Australian's Foreign Editor Greg claims Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is 'scared' to meet with Donald Trump in the White House amid the US asking Australia to lift defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP. 'I think Albanese is scared of meeting Trump in the White House because imagine the two of them sitting there and someone says to the president 'well, Mr Trump, do you think Australia, which spends measly 2 per cent of its GDP on defence while America spends 3.5 per cent and defends Australia do you think that is good enough?' Trump would say no, that is a disaster,' Mr Sheridan told Sky News Australia. 'Albanese would have to have a fight with him or give in and do something real in defence.'
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Let fans have their flares, says Socceroos veteran
Socceroos veteran Milos Degenek wants to see flares back at Australian soccer games, saying travelling teams now have it too easy due to fans being over policed. More than 50,000 fans are expected to turn out on Thursday night when Australia host Japan in a crunch World Cup qualifier at Optus Stadium in Perth. The match will be played less than a week after riot police were called in to control unruly fans walking to the game in the lead up to Melbourne City's A-League Men grand-final win over arch-rivals Melbourne Victory. About 20 flares were lit in the crowd, with one police officer taken to hospital after allegedly being kicked. Football Australia strictly bans flares and other pyrotechnics in and around stadiums, with perpetrators facing hefty bans. The Socceroos have faced plenty of hostile crowds over the years in various World Cup qualifying campaigns, but Degenek feels Australian fans aren't given the scope to return the favour due to restrictions being placed on them. "It would be a lot nicer if when countries come to Australia to play against us, the crowd was a little bit more hostile" Degenek said in Perth on Tuesday. "Put it this way. I played in Serbia. I played at Red Star Belgrade, in the Eternal Derby where you play Partizan (Belgrade), where flares are thrown onto a pitch, where the city gets shut down on game day. "But in the end, that's normal for me. There's no fear. "There's a code in the footballing world: Fans are never going to attack footballers. "I saw the pictures from the (A-League) grand final - a lot of police. "For me, I just think it's nonsense that you have people in riot gear for guys who are going to a game. "I don't think we're going to a war. We're just going to a football game. You're making it out to be a lot worse than what it is." Degenek believes by tightening down on people's rights with a huge police presence, it leads to more problems. "That has a counter effect, in my opinion," he said. "Because you are paying so much attention to those things - fans or flares and this and that - in the end, you're going to force an issue, because you're narrowing down corridors where they can walk. "You're pushing them to a side. Someone's going to step on someone, someone's going to push and then that escalates really quick, rather than give them freedom to move and getting them safely to a stadium. "Once they're in, you close them off. No one's going to walk out onto the pitch, no one's going to walk out to the other side and fight with the other fans, because by the time you get from A to B, it's a 150m walk." Degenek believes more people would attend games if they were policed less. "You need to give the fans the freedom, the joy," he said. "Because the more you do that (police them), the less people are going to go to the stadium. "In Europe, you have less police, and that's where you have more fans at the games. "And for us as footballers, it's a lot better when you see flares in the stadium, when you see fans screaming, chanting, flares going off, because that kind of gets the adrenaline going and motivates you even more." The Socceroos (13 points) sit second in their qualifying group. A win over Japan (20 points) would almost certainly lock in their place for the 2026 World Cup.
