Final act of Labour youth camp case could be a gamechanger

Final act of Labour youth camp case could be a gamechanger

On Thursday afternoon, the long, long court process in the Labour youth camp case came quietly to a close, with the Court of Appeal granting permanent name suppression to the young man accused (and discharged without conviction) of assault charges.

It was one of those moments that could change the practice of criminal law when it comes to name suppression. It was reported in the mainstream media but you may have missed it nonetheless. The 21-page document did not exactly light up Twitter or Facebook.

It’s deeply ironic that the people who will be most outraged by this decision (except perhaps for the complainants, more on that later) are the ones whose actions made sure this young man’s name will never be known. One might even laugh, if it were the least little bit funny.

Labour Party Summer Camp Case: Court grants man permanent name suppression to protect against social media 'mob'

Labour Party Summer Camp Case: Court grants man permanent name suppression to protect against social media 'mob'

A young man has been granted permanent name suppression after admitting he assaulted two people at a drunken Labour Party youth summer camp.

And in what may be a precedent setting decision, the Court of Appeal said it did so to protect him from a social media "mob" intent on "cancel culture" and internet vigilantism.

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The 2020 listing of leading Auckland Criminal Lawyers details solicitors and barristers practising within the area of Criminal, Regulatory Offences & White-Collar Crime matters located in the Auckland area market whose and who have been identified by New Zealand’s Criminal law solicitors for their expertise and abilities in these areas.

Labour Party summer camp case: 'Political football' arrives at Court of Appeal as young man seeks secrecy

Labour Party summer camp case: 'Political football' arrives at Court of Appeal as young man seeks secrecy

A young man argues he has suffered enough as his intense and highly publicised trial became a political football after allegations emerged from a young Labour Party summer camp. Sam Hurley reports.

A "miscarriage of justice" will occur if a man is refused permanent name suppression after admitting he assaulted two others at a drunken Labour Party youth summer camp, his lawyer argues.

The 22-year-old has not been identified since sexual allegations emerged from the camp, near Waihi in February 2018, sparking the criminal case against him.

Midway through a trial last year in the Auckland District Court, however, a plea deal was reached between the man's defence team and prosecutors after a jury was asked to consider five charges of indecent assault, relating to two men and two women.

The man ultimately pleaded guilty to two amended charges of assault for the allegations against the two men, and the charges against the two women were withdrawn and dismissed.

Justice at last - inside the new wrongful conviction body

Justice at last - inside the new wrongful conviction body

A new body to investigate wrongful convictions is about to begin its work. Mike White looks at why it's taken so long to establish a Criminal Cases Review Commission, and why some are concerned about its makeup.

Shaun Allen will be there. Mark Lundy will arrive not long after. Scott Watson may well turn up later. And they'll be joined by hundreds of others who believe they've been wrongfully convicted and are applying to the new Criminal Cases Review Commission to have their cases investigated, when it opens next month.

Three of 4 inmates accused of murdering Blake Lee at Auckland prison named

Three of 4 inmates accused of murdering Blake Lee at Auckland prison named

Three of the four men accused of murdering a fellow inmate at New Zealand's only maximum security prison can today be named.

The group appeared this morning in the High Court at Auckland in person and via video link, all charged with murdering Blake John Lee, who died at Auckland Prison in Paremoremo on March 5.

Water pistol killing: Man appeals sentence over death of teen Eli Holtz

Water pistol killing: Man appeals sentence over death of teen Eli Holtz

The man who killed teenager Eli Holtz​ after the youth shot at him with a water pistol in central Auckland is appealing his seven year jail sentence.

Myron Robert Alf Felise​ was jailed in February 2019 after pleading guilty to one charge of manslaughter.

At the High Court at Auckland, Justice Gerard van Bohemen sentenced him to seven years in jail and he was ordered to serve at least half of the sentence.

On Monday at the Court of Appeal, Emma Priest appealed Felise's sentence in front of Justice Forrie Miller, Justice Simon Moore and Justice Robert Dobson.

Family seeks forgiveness after drunken Auckland encounter ends in man's death

Family seeks forgiveness after drunken Auckland encounter ends in man's death

When a drunk man staggered onto Auckland's Queen St shortly before dawn on Saturday, April 20, last year, a car stopped and words were exchanged.

What might have ended with the drunk walking off and a car driving away instead left Jerico Telea​ dead and Joseph Antonio Halaholo Larson charged with manslaughter.

But Larson, 21, will spend no time in prison, after the the High Court at Auckland heard the catastrophic burst of violence also sparked a journey of forgiveness.

Young Labour camp assault: Man seeks permanent name suppression

Young Labour camp assault: Man seeks permanent name suppression

A 21-year-old man who admitted assaulting two young men at a Young Labour summer camp is appealing a judge's ruling not to grant him permanent name suppression.

The man was originally charged with five counts of indecent assault against four complainants, which he denied, after the 2018 incident.

However, he pleaded guilty to two amended charges of assault halfway through the trial.

He was discharged without conviction in November, but Judge Russell Collins did not grant him permanent name suppression.

Coroner identifies series of failures after death of young father at Waitematā DHB mental health unit

Coroner identifies series of failures after death of young father at Waitematā DHB mental health unit

A young father at "chronic risk" of self-harming took his own life while under compulsory mental health care after a series of failures by health staff.

He is the fourth mental health patient to die while under compulsory care at Waitematā District Health Board in just two years, including two suspected suicides within days of each other at a North Shore unit last May.

And while the board acknowledges failings, it says changes have been implemented to improve patient safety and prevent further tragedies.

The man's grieving mother, Margaret Lees, is now racked with guilt, having admitted her son to West Auckland's Waiatarau acute mental health unit because she feared he was suicidal, and believing he would be safe.

Lees' lawyer has suggested laying a police complaint to determine if staff at the facility could face criminal charges of neglect.