John Doherty's flurry of disturbing, sexually themed emails to a woman he vaguely knew have led to criminal charges. Photo / 123rf
John Doherty's flurry of disturbing, sexually themed emails to a woman he vaguely knew have led to criminal charges. Photo / 123rf
A man who once wanted to be a security guard for former Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern has been sending lewd emails to another person in political circles, calling her “the girl of his dreams”.
John Turner Doherty believed the two would one day marry, but his recent flurry ofdisturbing, sexually themed emails has instead led to criminal charges.
Doherty, 74, admitted six charges of criminal harassment when he appeared in the Nelson District Court last week.
He later told NZME he planned to vacate his guilty pleas and defend the charges. However, the court confirmed that as of now, no application had been lodged.
John Doherty once wanted to be a security guard for former Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern.
The charges came after the woman, who has name suppression, contacted police in September about receiving “multiple unsolicited and distressing emails” from Doherty.
Police then personally served him notice telling him to cease contact with her or risk prosecution for criminal harassment.
Doherty told NZME he moved to Nelson about 18 months ago for the warm climate and coastline, and “to seek fresh fields”.
He said he had “loosely known” the woman for several years through his political interests.
Doherty, who once promoted himself as operating a professional security firm, had his security licence cancelled by the Private Security Personnel Licensing Authority in August last year.
Police raised concerns with the licensing authority about an email he sent to Ardern in 2021 offering to be part of her security detail.
A police officer who spoke to him about that email said he appeared to be “delusional”, while Doherty claimed he was merely “aiming high”.
Doherty also emailed the police with a proposal that he go undercover and conduct private investigations on their behalf, despite not having a private investigator’s licence.
What he had was a Certificate of Approval that qualified a person to work in positions such as a security guard or parking warden.
He had also been served with a harassment notice from police after becoming infatuated with a 17-year-old girl.
When cancelling Doherty’s licence, licensing authority head Trish McConnell said she accepted the police submission that he was unable to accept things such as emailing the Prime Minister, offering his services to police to go undercover, and harassing a 17-year-old woman were inappropriate.
His claim he was only doing his civil duty raised questions about his fitness to be a security guard and his mental health in general, she said.
On a night in late September, Doherty emailed the current complainant.
He acknowledged he should not be contacting her but went on to say he “does not take easily an instruction to stay away from the girl of his dreams”.
He expressed his love for her, followed the next day by another email in which he described an encounter he had with a female where she “even groped me in the groin area”.
Police said the nature of this email continued in a sexual manner, with Doherty asking her what he should do if he received “briefly-clad” photos of a female.
He then asked the woman to consider “slipping images of [her] in lingerie under his door”.
In the early hours of the following day, Doherty emailed the woman again and depicted a fictitious scenario where he believed she used “wordthoughts” to communicate wanting him in bed.
He continued to describe wanting to be in her bed, telling her that he loved her and they would be together.
Doherty then described a male he believed was involved with her and expressed his concern for how he treated her and it was “not the complainant’s fault”.
About an hour later he sent another email, telling the woman he wanted to “unveil your undoubted charms”.
Twenty-four hours later another email arrived in which Doherty continued to believe they were romantically involved.
He made further negative comments about the man he believed she was involved with.
In the email Doherty wrote, “I will never leave you, never abandon you, and never leave you lonely, okay? It’s my pledge to you.”
He later told police he believed he was in a relationship with the woman and that they had agreed to marry.
Doherty was remanded for sentencing next April, with Judge Jo Rielly requesting a victim impact statement.
Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.
