Sera Cruickshank, owner of Ponsonby's The Diamond Shop, and her fiance, Jamie Foster, a former policeman who was convicted of rape in 2020, are working with a private investigator to appeal his conviction.
A Kiwi influencer and owner of Ponsonby’s The Diamond Shop has opened up for the first time about her relationship with a former police officer jailed for raping his colleague.
Sera Cruickshank spoke exclusively to Society Insider about the backlash she has faced since going public with her relationship with fiance Jamie Foster.
The pair have hired top private investigator Tim McKinnel, who is now preparing an application to the Criminal Cases Review Commission in an attempt to overturn Foster’s conviction.
Cruickshank, who has two children from her first marriage, says she researched the case herself and believes her husband-to-be, who has one child, is innocent. They hired McKinnel in an attempt to clear his name.
“It’s for our children, for me, and for his family,” she says.
Foster was convicted in 2020 of indecently assaulting and sexually violating a colleague at a motel in Northland, after they had been assigned to help with Waitangi Day events at the Treaty Grounds in 2019.
Foster served two years of a six-year sentence and was released on electronically monitored parole in March 2022.
Tim McKinnel, who was instrumental in helping overturn the murder convictions of Teina Pora and Alan Hall, says his investigation firm Zavest is preparing an application to the Criminal Cases Review Commission and another recall application to the court.
McKinnel tells Society Insider that after some initial hesitation, in part because consent cases are so fraught, Zavést agreed to look at the case.
“After our preliminary review of the police investigation and trial, it is fair to say we have identified some concerning elements, and we think Jamie’s case warrants a much closer look.”
He says the elements include whether the investigation was truly independent and objective, and whether all the relevant material was provided and disclosed to Foster and his defence team.
He says another area of interest is whether witnesses were able to speak frankly and freely to investigators in the case.
McKinnel says in his experience, claims of wrongful conviction take years to investigate and advance - so he expects it may be some time before Foster’s case moves through the system.
When approached for comment, Crown Prosecutor of the Foster case, Fiona Culliney, said, “it would not be appropriate to comment in light of the intended applications you have noted”. She said she had passed on the request to police involved in the investigation.
Detective Superintendent Dave Lynch told RNZ in June that Foster’s conviction followed a thorough police investigation and trial by jury. A subsequent appeal by Foster was dismissed by the Court of Appeal in March 2021 and the Supreme Court declined him leave to appeal that decision and declined to recall its decision. Lynch said Foster then went back to the Court of Appeal asking it to recall its decision, which the court declined.
“It would be inappropriate of police to relitigate these convictions through the media,” Lynch told RNZ.
“Apart from undermining the judicial process, it risks retraumatising the victim in this matter who has displayed admirable courage throughout a challenging judicial process.”
Cruickshank and Foster, both 35, met mid last year on Instagram when Foster sent Cruickshank a message.
“At the time, we were both deep in the trenches of our own struggles. I was going through a very difficult divorce, and he was still picking up the pieces from his case.”
She says they bonded over their shared love of the gym and met in person when Foster came to train at Cruickshank’s gym with a friend.
“It developed naturally and deeply, quite fast, which made sense given everything we were each carrying.
“The seriousness of his situation, paired with my own emotional upheaval, created a space where we could really see and understand each other.”
Cruickshank says she “took it upon herself to research Foster’s case extensively and form her own opinions”.
In January, Cruickshank went public with their relationship, posting video on social media of her and Foster at the beach. His electronic monitoring ankle bracelet was visible in the videos. He is no longer required to wear it, she says.
The socialite and influencer, who has more than 26,000 Instagram followers, says she didn’t expect to see their story make headlines on both sides of the Tasman.
Cruickshank says it hasn’t always been easy navigating public opinion.
“Not everyone understands and supports our journey, but the people who know us best, along with some newly formed friendships, have been unwavering.”
The couple got engaged in April while staying at an Airbnb on Waiheke. Foster read her a heartfelt letter over red wine and pizza on a secluded beach, then presented her with a trilogy ring: a 4-carat cushion-cut yellow diamond flanked by two white cushion-cut diamonds from The Diamond Shop.
“He took me by surprise; it was emotional, meaningful, and completely perfect,” she says.
Not long after becoming engaged, Cruickshank fell pregnant, but suffered a miscarriage in June at nine weeks.
“We’re doing really well,” she says. “We’d love to grow our family and welcome another baby when our time comes.”
Last month, the pair relocated a Ponsonby villa to a piece of land Foster owns steps from the beach north of Auckland.
Foster, who is working as a painter-decorator while he studies to become a private investigator himself, is working on the renovations of their new home.
“As it turns out, it was a home I knew well — it sat directly opposite our old Jervois Road store in Ponsonby,” Cruickshank said.
“The moment we saw it, we absolutely fell in love.”
Ricardo Simich has been with the Herald since 2008 where he contributed to The Business Insider. In 2012 he took over Spy at the Herald on Sunday, which has since evolved into Society Insider. The weekly column gives a glimpse into the worlds of the rich and famous.