Editorial: Sports stars are good at sports but should not be held up as role models

Sevu Reece and his partner Kiri Howell (left) at the Christchurch District Court. Photo / George Heard

All Black Sevu Reece did the right thing when he fronted up to the biggest court in the land – the court of public opinion – to take a public flogging.

He’s not the first and won’t be the last sportsperson to be held to account. That’s why it’s important that people like Reece not be held up as role models. They are human and prone to human errors. It doesn’t make them bad people.

Sports and high-powered business people are good at what they do. But so are those who stack shelves in supermarkets, clean public toilets, or volunteer at homeless shelters and foodbanks.

Fronting the media is a difficult job, even for those in the media spotlight regularly. Reece has been interviewed dozens of times about his on-field performances for the All Blacks.

But he walked out of the Christchurch District Court with his partner preparing to face a media pack more intimidating than the South African front row to talk about his battle with the booze and steps he’s taken since to turn his life around.

His alcohol issues resulted in admitting a charge of wilful damage following the 2023 Christchurch Cup Day incident, where the Fijian-born All Black drove someone else’s vehicle into a garage. Last week, Reece was discharged without conviction for his drunken act.

The discharge was the right result, not because he is a high-profile athlete but because the penalty fits the crime, nothing more, nothing less.

There was a chance Reece’s legal people could have asked for permanent name suppression – or the interim suppression to continue because future employers might be dissuaded from offering him a contract. Had the judge not agreed, an appeal would have to go to a higher court to decide. He did not ask and must be given credit for doing the right thing.

“I’m embarrassed and so, so sorry“ are the six words that all but exonerated Reece, and should be a lesson for other high-profile people who find themselves on the wrong side of the law.

Front up and don’t continue to hide behind a name-suppression charade.

On any given day in the New Zealand justice system, dozens of people hide behind name suppression.

Sir James Wallace – as he was then with name suppression – when he appeared at the Auckland District Court. Photo / Jason Oxenham

The only people who should have automatic name suppression are victims and even then many forgo it so their abusers can be publicly identified.

If you have deep pockets, you can take yourself and your name deep into the justice system.

An example is James Wallace, a businessman, arts patron, and now as everyone knows, a convicted sexual deviant, who kept his name secret – and his knighthood intact – for years, after being jailed in 2021 for assaulting three young men in the early 2000s.

Name suppression was eventually lifted in 2023 by the Supreme Court and the rich arts philanthropist was publicly outed. Sir James Wallace lost his knighthood and became James Wallace, the rich sex deviant.