from the Daily Telegraph NZ

Te Kahika had organised a public protest outside TVNZ offices in downtown Auckland on the first day of New Zealand’s “delta variant” nationwide lockdown in August 2021.

At a hearing in March this year he was found guilty by Judge Peter Winter in the District Court and sentenced to four months imprisonment. Co-defendant broadcaster Vinny Eastwood received a three month sentence for his part in the protest. The two were granted bail while they filed an appeal against the convictions and sentences.

In a decision released yesterday afternoon Justice Neil Campbell in the Auckland High Court upheld the convictions but overturned the prison sentences. He convicted and discharged the two men.

While Judge Winter had considered Te Kahika’s actions at the high-end for this type of offending, Justice Campbell disagreed.

‘I consider that this offending was well short of the most serious of its kind… At most, a starting point of a very short period of imprisonment, in the region of 14 days, would have been appropriate for each of Mr Te Kahika and Mr Eastwood.

‘Against his starting point, Mr Te Kahika is entitled to several allowances. He has no prior convictions. More significantly, he has spent much of his life making significant and varied contributions to his community.

‘I add that, even if the adjusted starting point had been a very short sentence of imprisonment, I consider that Judge Winter erred in not considering home detention or some other community-based sentence.’

Te Kahika told legacy media he was relieved after being told news of the successful appeal by his lawyers.

Judge Peter Winter was appointed by the Jacinda government so it’s little surprise he sided with that government’s draconian attitudes. The Jacinda government had told judges to give home detention punishment for quite serious criminal offenses, but obviously not for peaceful people who opposed her regime. The whole episode has caused considerable financial cost for Billy TK — the best part of $100K in legal costs according to what he said in Podcasts. —Eds