��һ�ǿ�����

A Judge has found Liz Gunn guilty of assault following the eventful trial of the former TVNZ host and anti-vaccination campaigner.

But Judge Janey Forrest found Gunn and her cameraman Jonathan Clark not guilty of resisting police.

A packed public gallery of supporters at the Manukau District Court applauded when the not guilty verdicts were read, but expressed dismay when the guilty verdict was returned, yelling “shame” and “disgusting” as the Judge retired.

Gunn was charged with assault, resisting arrest and wilful trespass following a fracas at Auckland Airport’s international arrivals terminal on February 25 last year.

Clark was charged only with resisting arrest and wilful trespass.

The pair defended the charges during a colourful judge-alone trial held over two days earlier this month.

During the trial, Judge Forrest dismissed the charge of wilful trespass against the pair.

A band of Gunn’s loyal supporters packed the public gallery for both days of the trial and were back at the Manukau District Court on Tuesday to hear the verdicts.

Liz Gunn arrives at Manukau District Court on May 7 before the two-day judge-alone trial at which she defended allegations of assault, resisting arrest and wilful trespass. Photo / Michael Craig

Gunn was charged with assaulting airport security worker Anna Kolodeznaya, who told the pair they did not have permission to film in the international arrivals terminal, sparking a heated exchange.

Kolodeznaya told the court Gunn grabbed her arm, causing a level of pain she described as five-out-of-ten.

That was rejected by Gunn and her lawyer Matthew Hague, who said she only touched her arm to get her attention.

The defence also contested Kolodeznaya’s assertion Gunn and Clark needed permission because they were using professional camera equipment.

Hague said they did not need permission because they were not filming for profit.

The pair were there to film the arrival of a family who had been kept in lockdown in Tokelau after refusing the Covid-19 vaccine.

The policemen who arrested Gunn and Clark said they used force to cuff the pair because they were resisting and trying to get away.

But Gunn and Clark said the police used excessive force. Hague said they did not make enough of an effort to de-escalate the situation or communicate with the pair in the approximately 20 seconds between the officers arriving on the scene and the forceful arrests.

Gunn said she was left with ligament damage and lasting pain and trauma from the arrest.

In his closing address, Hague told the court she had implied consent to touch the Auckland Airport security worker she is charged with assaulting because she was trying to get her attention.

“I struggle to think of a more minor application of force,” Hague said.

After Kolodeznaya told Gunn they did not have permission to film in the terminal, Gunn then began questioning Kolodeznaya about her nationality and made repeated references to Nazi Germany.

Kolodeznaya earlier told the court Gunn had intimidated her and grabbed her arm forcefully, leaving her in pain.

Police prosecutor Jerome Beveridge said in his closing address that Gunn attempted to bully Kolodeznaya.

Liz Gunn was all smiles outside court during her trial but broke down in tears in the witness box when footage of her arrest was played. Photo / Michael Craig

Gunn spoke over her, asked her where she was from, then drew a comparison to Nazi Germany, Beveridge said.

“She has then grabbed her arm which has clearly provoked an adverse reaction.”

He cited cases which he said showed the law could not draw the line between different degrees of force for an assault charge.

The issue of the level of force applied was relevant only to the penalty if the charge is proved, he said.

Beveridge, during cross-examination, asked Gunn why she described Kolodeznaya and another airport staffer, as “real Nazis” in footage captured last year.

She and her cameraman were attempting to film in Auckland airport but the worker told them they did not have permission, an assertion that was disputed by Gunn.

They were eventually arrested and charged after the dispute over filming escalated and airport staff called police.

Gunn, 64, began telling a story about how her father fought in World War II but was interrupted by Judge Forrest.

The judge told Gunn that what her father had said was hearsay, asking her to answer the question directly.

Gunn said she was just trying to add context to her use of the term Nazi.

“It is a term of art for someone who is abusing the power that they have because of the power of their uniform,” Gunn said.

Gunn broke down in tears when footage of her arrest was played.

She has said the arrest was so forceful it caused her ligament damage and lasting pain and trauma.

The arresting officer Senior Constable Erich Postlewaight told the court on Tuesday she repeatedly tried to pull away from him and push him off, which Gunn described as a “ludicrous assertion”.

“He was three times my strength, he was twice my size.”

As the cross-examination wore on during the second day of the trial on May 10, Gunn asked Beveridge why he needed to keep playing the footage and took issue with a few of his questions, leading to another rebuke from the judge.

“Ms Gunn, you’re here to answer the questions that are put to you,” Judge Forrest said.

“Your job is not to ask questions.”

Hague next called Clark as a witness. He said he was grabbed hard by Constable Robert Luong, thrown to the ground and left with marks and bruising on his body.

“Resisting what? I was on the ground when he said ‘you are under arrest’ I was just lying there.”

Hague then called Dr René de Monchy, a psychiatrist who was at the airport alongside Gunn when she was arrested.

The doctor has previously been interviewed by Gunn, prior to the alleged assault, and according to an anti-vaccine group he lost his job at a New Zealand hospital for refusing to have the Covid-19 vaccine.

He appeared by audio-visual link from Switzerland, where it was 3am, and told the court Postlewaight grabbed Gunn out of the blue, “without any provocation”.

“He grabbed her right wrist and right forearm and twisted that in upwards fully behind the back and up to the shoulder blades.”

Judge Forrest had asked him not to refer to his notes when giving evidence, and to ask for permission if he wanted to refer to notes. But it emerged during cross-examination he had been referring to notes.

“At the start of your evidence we discussed you would put those to one side and you would not look at your notes,” the Judge said.