Sir Colin Meads acted as 'guinea pig' for deer products, court hears

All Blacks rugby legend Sir Colin Meads. Photo / Nick Reed

All Black legend Sir Colin Meads acted as a "guinea pig" for an Invercargill company's deer velvet products, a court has heard.

On the anniversary of Pine Tree's death he got an ignominious mention in the Dunedin District Court yesterday. Silberhorn (now Gateway Solutions Ltd) and sole director Ian Carline are before the Dunedin District Court after the company admitted 24 charges of misleading conduct under the Fair Trading Act and one of failing to supply documents or information to investigators.

Carline also pleaded guilty to the latter charge.

The charges came after a Commerce Commission investigation revealed the supplements did not contain the amount of deer velvet noted on the label.

Carline spent yesterday in the witness box where he said the reduction in the active ingredient came about because a new manufacturing process made the product more potent.

Prosecutor John Dixon, QC, slammed the man's testing regime, which involved him consuming it himself or giving it to people like the late Sir Colin and seeing how they felt.

"I suggest it was woefully inadequate and utterly unscientific."

Under cross-examination, Carline refused to accept his methods were unscientific. "When you're leading in what you do, there's no one to follow." Carline was adamant his new product was twice as effective as it had been, so he lowered the dosage. However, that was not reflected on the label.

Sportsvel, as endorsed by Sir Bob Charles, was advertised as containing 250mg of deer velvet but sometimes contained as little as 180mg, the court heard. The prosecution argues that deception was deliberate.

Defence counsel Judith Ablett-Kerr QC called the mislabelling "corporate negligence". It is one of a raft of issues Judge Kevin Phillips will have to determine.

The case has been before the court for more than a week for a disputed-facts hearing. Evidence is expected to conclude tomorrow before closing submissions are heard next month.