Athlete loses appeal against sex abuse convictions

File photo / NZ Herald

A former New Zealand Commonwealth Games athlete's appeal against sex abuse convictions has been dismissed.

Iran-born Ricardo Aryan was found guilty of six sex charges during a trial at the High Court in Auckland in April 2009.

The charges related to offending between 2002 and 2007.

The Supreme Court has dismissed an application for leave to appeal, which follows a previous unsuccessful attempt to appeal the convictions in the Court of Appeal.

As part of his appeal, Aryan lodged an affidavit from the complainant, made after the decision of the Court of Appeal, said the ruling.

"She says she agreed to the incidents that happened between her and Mr Aryan and did not tell the truth because she did not want her family to blame her.''

The appeal was denied, with the reasons outlined in the ruling:

"The Court is not the appropriate forum for an appeal of this kind which requires an assessment of the credibility of the key witness against the evidence she and others gave at trial.

"The Court will be in no position to say that a substantial miscarriage of justice has occurred in the absence of an investigation which the Court cannot undertake.''