Despite acknowledging the publication of the defendant’s name would be unlikely to cause severe prejudice to his career, Justice Boldt also suppressed his occupation. He was critical of the police’s decision to even charge the man, who was anonymised in court documents as "Mr L". "Mr L was acquitted and it is clear, at least with the benefit of hindsight, that he was unlucky to be charged," Justice Boldt said. "The messages should have given the police pause before they decided to charge Mr L," Justice Boldt said. "But for an unfortunate charging decision, all interactions between Mr L and the complainant would have remained private.

Source: Otago Daily Times January 20, 2026 16:01 UTC