A prominent criminal lawyer has been taken to task by a judge who said he appeared to have "misinformed" media over whether or not a client had name suppression.
Barry Hart was rebuked by Judge Charles Blackie in Manukau District Court on Wednesday for telling the Herald on Sunday that the name of a man charged over a cocaine smuggling ring had been suppressed.
Hart told the court the incident had been a misunderstanding and he had been acting in the best interests of his client.
In January a group was charged in connection with the importation of 3kg or $500,000 worth of the Class A drug. The paper approached Hart's client on a Friday and later checked with the court to ensure he did not have name suppression. The next day, Hart called and said his client had interim name suppression after an appeal at Manukau District Court.
In fact, Hart filed an appeal the day after the report was published - with the name removed. He lost, but after an unsuccessful appeal to the High Court, the full case for suppression was heard at the district court this week.
Judge Blackie said: "The only reason that there has been name suppression was that the press were misinformed in the first place about the outcome of a suppression hearing.
" It was reported that the court had made an order at a special sitting in January ... but that was quite untrue."
Hart's client, a fitness trainer, denies charges of possession with intent to supply cocaine. Hart argued allowing his client's name to be published would be "disastrous" for his business.
Judge Blackie reserved his decision.
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