Tears in court after accused found not guilty

A man accused of hacking his ex’s Facebook page and assaulting a police officer cried when found not guilty of the charges.

Daniel Shaun Clout was on trial in the New Plymouth District Court this week on one charge each of aggravated assault on police, resisting police and contravening a protection order.

Yesterday, after the jury foreman announced he had been found not guilty on all charges in a unanimous decision, Clout put his head in his hands and cried.

Clout’s trial began on Tuesday, when the jury, which dropped to 10 members through the course of the trial, heard from the Crown that in July 2017 the Taranaki man hacked his former partner’s Facebook account, changing its password.

Crown prosecutor Jacob Bourke said the act was a breach of a protection order imposed on Clout last year, and amounted to psychological abuse of the woman. The pair had been in a relationship for about nine years but split in January 2017. Clout, a controversial former wheel clamper, was accused of pushing a police officer who arrived at his home the day after the alleged breach to investigate the complaint.

Police said Clout was obstructive during the process and as a result was placed under arrest, to which he allegedly resisted.

He was accused of pushing an officer, closing the door on him and then barricading himself in his bedroom while police, who were let in the house by another tennant, appealed for him to come out.

Clout – who once made 17 individual complaints to the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) claiming officers had made it impossible for him to do his job as a wheel clamper – filmed police as they pushed their way into the room and restrained him. He claimed police were aggressive during the arrest and he was made fun of by officers.

Defence lawyer Megan Boyd proved her client had been trying to change the password to his own Facebook account when he inadvertently changed his ex’s. She successfully argued there was a lack of intention by Clout in the alleged assault and resisting of arrest.

Judge Christopher Field dismissed the jury and Clout – who was clearly overwhelmed by the verdict.

It’s not the first time the man has found himself in a courtroom defending charges or in media headlines.

About seven years ago, he became notorious for his zealous enforcement of parking rules in several of New Plymouth’s private car parks, which he patrolled as the operator of Egmont Security.

In 2012, he angered police by clamping one of their unmarked cars, and refused to remove the clamps until he was paid.

In 2014, Clout was found guilty of wheel clamping without a licence. The defended hearing, laid by the Department of Internal Affairs, related to Clout operating as a property guard without a licence in November and December 2012 in two New Plymouth car parks.

Prior to that, in the High Court in New Plymouth, Clout failed to have an assault conviction and sentence quashed after punching a 20-year-old German tourist in the face.