No conviction for Labour camp assault

A 21-year-old man who admitted assaulting two young men at a Young Labour camp has been discharged without conviction.

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

However, during his trial in September, the Crown withdrew the indecent assault charges, amending them to assault, withdrew a third charge and offered no evidence on the remaining two charges. The man, who cannot be identified, pleaded guilty to two amended charges of assault under the Summary Offences Act 1981 halfway through the trial.

The incident took place at a Young Labour summer camp in Karangahake Gorge in February 2018 and the man was arrested four months later.

Yesterday at the Auckland District Court, Judge Russell Collins discharged the man without conviction and did not grant him permanent name suppression.

However, defence counsel Emma Priest immediately appealed the judge’s decision.

Judge Collins addressed one of the victims in court by saying nothing he said or did diminished the impact the incident had had on him. He said he believed the two victims and considered them impressive young men. He hoped their futures were bright, he said.

‘‘Having heard the evidence, I am not convinced that what the defendant did was for sexual gratification ... yes, it was highly offensive and it would have been for the victims,’’ Judge Collins said. ‘‘It was born out of drunken stupidity, that doesn’t excuse it.’’

The two victims had shown considerable courage but sadly there had been a real impact on them, he said.

‘‘None of that was their making but sadly much of the impact on them clearly comes from what happened after that night and is not simply confined to what happened on the night itself.’’

Judge Collins said the defendant was an impressive young man who had succeeded in life and his chances of further offending were low.

‘‘He is a talented, capable young man who should treat today as a challenge to not only get on with his own life but use his talents to contribute positively to society.’’

Priest said the highly political nature of the prosecution meant the case would be linked to other political news and the subsequent sexual allegations amid the Labour Party.

She said her client would face a lifetime of Google searches if his name was not permanently suppressed.

As well as the court case, the allegations led to a review of the party’s internal processes and policies.