A prostitute who gave false evidence against serial sex offender Stephen Karl Collie has been jailed for nine months in a rare private prosecution.
Collie was originally sentenced to 16 years' jail after being found guilty in the High Court at Auckland in 1993 of a large number of offences against
seven sex workers, including three relating to the perjurer.
The 33-year-old prostitute, who has name suppression, claimed that she received hospital treatment for a knife wound to the vagina caused during the attack. But at another court hearing in 1996 in the district court she said she had not received treatment.
The Court of Appeal subsequently quashed Collie's convictions relating to the woman and reduced his jail term to 13 years.
Collie took out a private prosecution against the woman, who last month admitted falsely stating on oath that she had received hospital treatment for an injury to her vagina in order to procure a conviction against Collie of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Marie Dyhrberg, the woman's lawyer, told Justice Tony Randerson in the High Court at Auckland yesterday that the woman still maintained that Collie had caused the injury to her vagina.
She said the woman had lied about receiving treatment to "bolster" her credibility, which she feared would suffer as a result of her occupation and drug abuse.
Collie's lawyer, John Haigh, QC, emphasised that the perjury was to secure a conviction.
"It was important and the prisoner knew it was important and that is why she gave the lie," Mr Haigh told the judge.
Handing down a nine-month term, Justice Randerson said the sentence was on the basis that the perjury was limited to the false statement about receiving hospital treatment.
He was satisfied that the false evidence was at least a material factor, among others, in the convictions in the view of the Court of Appeal.
The Court of Appeal also considered that it could have had a flow-on effect with regard to the allegations about the injury.
Justice Randerson said that Collie, who continued to deny attacking the woman, believed that the false evidence had affected all the jury's verdicts.
The judge granted leave for the woman to apply for home detention.
