Lawson loses appeal, out of Comm Games

New Zealand bowler Gary Lawson has been suspended for 16 weeks and is out of Commonwealth Games contention.

The penalty comes after a Bowls New Zealand judicial panel dismissed Lawson’s appeal pertaining to an incident of homophobic abuse that happened at a competition in Christchurch in May 2021, in which Lawson referred to another bowler as a ‘‘f... ing f .... t’’.

Two other complaints regarding threatening behaviour had earlier been dismissed by Bowls Canterbury which upheld the complaint of homophobia. Bowls Canterbury handed down the penalty yesterday.

The appeal by Lawson was heard by the judicial panel led by Mike Heron QC on June 10. It was dismissed in a majority decision by Heron, and fellow panellists, former lawyer Keith Berman and former sports law lecturer Feona Sayles.

Bowls NZ said the suspension is backdated to May 26, but Lawson can have the penalty reduced to 10 weeks if he undertakes a diversity and inclusion training programme.

In messages to Stuff, Lawson continued to plead his innocence and has asked for Heron and the NZ Bowls judicial panel to overturn their decision regarding his appeal.

The decision against Lawson follows months of delays and unsuccessful mediation between the parties.

It has been nearly 12 months since the former world champion and 14-time New Zealand champion’s alleged conduct was the subject of a Stuff investigation, that uncovered allegations of homophobia and alleged sexism, verbal abuse and threatening behaviour.

The investigation also uncovered a ‘‘toxic’’ culture in which Bowls NZ, Bowls Canterbury and clubs knew of his alleged conduct and allowed him to continue to play.

Bowls Canterbury has denied the toxic culture.

Lawson was able to remain in the wider Blackjacks squad, and was in contention for Commonwealth Games selection.

Recently he withdrew from a trans-tasman series over Queen’s

Birthday weekend, which was considered a dress rehearsal for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games starting in late July.

It’s the second time in the last seven months Lawson has been suspended from all forms of the game.

In December, he was stood down for a month after being found to have used profane and indecent language towards an opposition player at an event in October.

Lawson was also suspended for six months in 2010 for his involvement in match fixing. At that time, he also appealed to the Sports Tribunal regarding the decision against him, and his team-mates.

The decision made against him was ultimately accepted by Lawson. He didn’t return to international competitions until 2019.