Field's sentence shows no one is above law - Speaker

Taito Phillip Field in court this morning. Photo / NZPA

Disgraced former MP Taito Phillip Field's jail sentence shows no one is above the law, Speaker Lockwood Smith says.

Field was today jailed for six years for bribery and corruption and perverting the course of justice.

Justice Rodney Hansen sentenced Field to four years in prison on the bribery and corruption charges and two years on the charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

In August, a jury found the former Mangere MP guilty of 26 of the 35 criminal charges he faced at the end of a 14-week trial.

Click here for the prosecution's case

Field was found guilty of 11 of 12 charges of bribery and corruption after getting Thai nationals to carry out work on his properties in Auckland and Samoa in return for immigration assistance between November 2002 and October 2005.

He was also found guilty of 15 of 23 charges of wilfully attempting to obstruct or pervert the course of justice relating to evidence he gave to a government-ordered inquiry by Noel Ingram QC into his conduct.

As an opposition MP Dr Smith pursued Field. He asked then immigration minister David Cunliffe more than 400 questions over the Field affair, drilling into contradictions and querying answers.

Dr Smith said he was saddened that a former MP and minister had been sentenced to a term of imprisonment.

"It demonstrates that all members of Parliament are accountable for their actions and that none of us are above the law," he said through a spokesman.

Justice Hansen said an aggravating factor of Field's offending was that he was prepared to exploit the Thai nationals that he had helped.

"You saw the results, you must have known that their willing assistance was saving you tens of thousands of dollars," Justice Hansen said.

"In my view you quite consciously used their adulations of you for your private gain."

Justice Hansen also said the jury must have found Field was trying to avoid justice when making and arranging for false information to be given to the Ingram Inquiry.

"It is an aggravating factor that you recruited your Thai friends and Mr Sulusulu (another witness) into your web."

The judge went on to say Field put his private interests ahead of his public ones: "It was a test of your character and it was a test that in my view you failed."

Justice Hansen discounted Field's sentence by 18 months after taking into account his "outstanding" previous service to the community, the public humiliation he'd suffered and the severe financial cost to Field of the case.

Outside court today, Crown solicitor Simon Moore said it was a sad day for the New Zealand community.

Field has consistently maintained his innocence but last week he apologised for the actions which led to his convictions. He also said his conscience was clear.

At a community meeting in Mangere he said he was apologising to the people of Mangere, and all of New Zealand, for allowing the outcome to occur.

He said while his conscience was clear he would accept whatever sentence he received.

A Maori elder was ordered out of court today after challenging the sentence at the end of the hearing.

Elected as Labour MP for Mangere in 1993, Field was expelled from the party in 2007.

He continued to represent the electorate as an independent MP before losing the seat to Labour's Sua William Sio in the 2008 general election.