New
Zealand's own corruption trial. John Banks, who should have gone to
jail on this one has been given the lowest possible sentence by his
own.
NZ: John Banks'
community sentence
John
Banks has accepted a conviction for filing a false electoral return
and been sentenced to community detention and community work.
1
August, 2014
In
the High Court at Auckland this morning, it was expected his lawyer
David Jones QC would argue for a discharge but he indicated
immediately that would not be the case.
Accordingly,
Justice Edwin Wylie convicted the Former Act MP and Mayor of
Auckland.
The
offence carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison or a fine of
up to $10,000 but the judge said the offending was not at the upper
end of the scale.
"You
failed to disclose only two donations. There is nothing to suggest it
was a pattern of offending," Justice Wylie said.
But
it was not a victimless crime, he said, the victim of the offending
was the community at large.
Banks
received a term of two months' community detention, during which he
will have to observe a curfew between 7pm and 7am for four nights a
week.
He
will also have to complete 100 hours of community work.
Mr
Jones said the guilty verdict alone had an impact on his client and
Banks maintained his innocence, calling the judge's verdict
"bewildering".
Banks'
wife had since moved to Central Otago because of the public scrutiny
but continued to support him, the court was told.
During
an interview with a probation officer Banks called the fiasco a
"process of incremental humiliation".
Both
Crown lawyer Paul Dacre and Mr Jones agreed there were many personal
mitigating factors for 68-year-old Banks.
"It
can only be described as an aberration in a career by Mr Banks that's
one of great public service over several decades," the defence
lawyer said.
"[The
offending] must be seen in that context." However, Mr Dacre
called the offending "premeditated" and said it happened at
the height of the failed mayoral campaign because the donation was
politically sensitive.
The
Crown said the starting point should be a sentence of imprisonment
before the judge turned his mind to relevant discounts.
Mr
Dacre accepted a community-based sentence could be appropriate.
But
Mr Jones argued a fine was the only appropriate sentence seeing as it
was, in his submission, "the lowest level of offending".
"It
can't possibly attract a term of imprisonment as a start point, an
end point or any point or any point," he said.
After
a private prosecution brought by Wellington accountant Graham
McCready the Crown argued Banks' failed mayoral campaign received two
$25,000 donations from Megastuff Ltd on Kim Dotcom's behalf in June
2010 and $15,000 from SkyCity in May that year.
At
a judge-alone trial in June, Justice Wylie ruled the charge in
relation to the SkyCity donation was not proven, but he was sure the
return was false when it came to the Megastuff payments.
Upon
finding Banks guilty, the judge said he found internet mogul Dotcom,
his estranged wife Mona and his former security guard Wayne Tempero,
who all gave evidence, to be reliable witnesses and he was satisfied
there was a discussion about a donation when Banks visited Dotcom's
Coatesville mansion in June 2010.
Justice
Wylie rejected assertions from Mr Jones that the Dotcom witnesses had
orchestrated their evidence as part of a conspiracy theory to bring
down the Government.
After
being found guilty in June, Banks stepped down from his role in
Parliament as an MP for Act.
Mr
McCready has applied for costs against Banks, which would be opposed
by the former politician.
Banks
is currently working as a project manager and said there were
numerous opportunities for future employment restructuring small
businesses.
The latest from Kim Dotcom
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