Tam threatens to bring defamation case against Peters

WHANGAREI: Mongrel Mob life member Harry Tam has issued a legal letter saying he will bring a defamation case against New Zealand First leader Winston Peters if he does not apologise for alleging Mr Tam helped a Covid19 positive case breach the Auckland border.

The former deputy Prime Minister alleged on the Newshub Nation TV programme last Saturday that one of the two Covid19 positive women who sneaked into Northland from Auckland was a sex worker Mr Tam helped to obtain false documentation.

The letter sent yesterday morning from Mr Tam’s barrister, Ron Mansfield QC, called on Mr Peters ‘‘to honestly account for your false comments about him [Tam] and the harm that those comments have caused him and the community’’.

Mr Tam, a former Mongrel Mob member, was granted an essential worker’s exemption to travel into lockeddown Auckland, the centre of a Delta outbreak, to encourage ganglinked unvaccinated people to get the jab.

The legal letter from Mr Mansfield says Mr Peters was seeking ‘‘political relevance’’ from his claims designed to ‘‘inflame public opinion against the Government’s efforts to manage the recent Covid19 outbreak and fuel the community’s distrust towards Mr Tam specifically and gangs generally’’.

Mr Mansfield’s letter says Mr Tam denies Mr Peters’ claims.

The letter requests a public statement of apology by 5pm on October 19 to avoid further defamation action which would seek damages. Mr Tam intends to donate any such damages to KidsCan charity. — The Northland Age