Sex, drugs and strife that began at 46

By LOUISA CLEAVE

Philip Sturm's life as a leading figure at the high end of Auckland's hospitality industry was all about work - ensuring his restaurants and bar maintained their standards and attractiveness in the city's fickle market.

He called himself "the conductor" and orchestrated the continued success of Otto's in the Metropolis building, Cibo in Parnell and trendy waterfront bar Coast.

After 20 years in the trade, starting as a young waiter with ambition, he had reached the pinnacle. Cibo, set up in 1994, was still receiving glowing reviews and he had opened his piece de resistance, the fine-dining restaurant Otto's, in 2000.

With its large stone fireplace, gold-leaf finishing and imported stone flooring, Otto's had cost almost $1 million to establish in the former Magistrate's Court House building.

But although magazines and newspapers raved about his businesses and the patrons poured in, Sturm rarely gave interviews and was considered to be something of a recluse and a loner.

He drove a flashy black Porsche but seldom had visitors to his rented Grey Lynn town house, shared with two much-loved cats.

Then, around 2001, people noticed a change. He started to dress differently and seemed to be having more fun. He had discovered illicit drugs at 46 and was making up for lost time, taking pleasures easily afforded and accessible because of his success.

He became a recreational user of Ecstasy and speed, or cut methamphetamine. He ditched the shirt, tie and trenchcoat for clubbing clothes. Sunglasses completed the new look.

One of Sturm's former bar managers, Hamish Pope, said the change happened almost overnight. Staff, friends and associates witnessed a minor transformation.

"He wasn't such a wanker," said a person who has known Sturm nearly 15 years. "He seemed to be a little bit more relaxed ... maybe a little too relaxed. Reliving your youth at his age probably wasn't the best idea."

Coast stands out among the many bars at the Viaduct for its location, on top of the Hewlett-Packard building on Princes Wharf, with panoramic harbour views. The venue offers its young, stylish clientele a balcony to escape the music, a dance floor if they want to be part of it, and couches to sink into to relax.

It also has a VIP bar, the Black Bar, where Sturm would work the room. A former manager says he would divide his attentions between groups of people his own age and those in their 20s. It was young men from the second group who led police to Sturm's door one morning last November. He was confronted with the allegations of three men who had individually approached police saying Sturm had drugged and sexually violated them.

A fourth man, a former employee, went to police with similar allegations three months later.

The men told police they were heterosexual and would never have engaged in homosexual sex if they had not been under the influence of drugs. Two said they had taken the Ecstasy and speed offered by Sturm and the other two alleged he secretly administered drugs through drinks.

Sturm denied slipping anyone drugs - on Thursday he was acquitted on six charges of stupefying - and said the men had freely taken the substances he offered, then engaged in consensual sex activities.

He was arrested after a three-hour interview and for the past five weeks has been on trial in the High Court at Auckland.

The Crown said Sturm was a sexual predator who used the trappings of his success - particularly his Porsche 911 turbo coupe - to make himself appealing to the men.

Prosecutors said Sturm gave the men Ecstasy and speed they could not otherwise afford to help to persuade them into sexual activity with him.

He used the office of Restaurant Management - the administration company for the restaurants and bar - on the 12th floor of Bridgecorp House because it was a neutral and non-threatening environment.

One of the complainants was a 19-year-old who was walking on Great North Rd, Grey Lynn, at 4am last November when Sturm pulled over in his Porsche and offered him a lift. He invited the man to the office for a beer and once there offered him speed and Ecstasy.

The man said Sturm tried to perform a sexual act on him at the office and later, at the Grey Lynn town house, did so successfully as he was bent over a glass coffee table. A doctor who examined the man found a 1cm tear to his anus.

The former employee said Sturm forced him into performing oral sex on three occasions. The 22-year-old man said he returned to Sturm after the alleged assaults because he was his source of drugs.

The other two men said they met Sturm in the Black Bar at Coast and alleged he spiked their drinks before taking them back to the office and engaging in sexual activity.

The VIP room has black leather couches and a sunken bar. If the night was quiet and the room looked empty, Sturm and his bar manager would cruise the main bar selecting patrons to invite back behind the heavy curtains.

It was during this process that Sturm met the 24-year-old complainant, chatted to him about business and invited him to continue the conversation at his office.

He would offer the men wine or beer from a fridge in the office kitchenette and, on at least one occasion, laid out lines of speed on a filing cabinet. He would use a scalpel for cutting up business cards at the office to halve Ecstasy tablets.

When the charges were laid against Sturm one associate was not surprised by the allegations.

"He's not one to take no for an answer."

But the person was appalled when Sturm made jokes about the charges and prison. "I felt it was inappropriate. Whether the allegations were true or not I didn't think it would be something you would make light of, but he has that sort of arrogance."

Born in Napier, Sturm was one of five boys raised by a solo mother. His family, he said, did not have anything and he had to "grow up pretty quickly". His twin brother was killed in a motorcycle accident when they were 18.

He began his ascent to the top of Auckland's hospitality industry as a waiter in silver-service restaurants and his business style caught the eye of wealthy businessmen.

Sturm has been backed in his ventures by a group of rich but low-profile businessmen, including William John Cunningham Laird.

The former Fay, Richwhite company director and current director of ANZ Holdings is a director and/or shareholder in all of the businesses. Police suggested Sturm mixed with well-known people.

"I love my industry, I know them all, I am afraid. When I say 'know them all', I have dealt with them all," Sturm said.

But his role in the businesses changed after charges were brought against him. He sold his shareholding in Cibo to Jeremy Turner and, before his trial, resigned as a director of Gunsmith Holdings, which trades as Coast.

His share in Otto's was recently reduced from a 50 per cent holding to just under 40 per cent.

Sturm told police his annual income was around $100,000 plus profit share and bonuses.

"I work hard and sometimes I play hard [but] most of the time I work hard," he said.

"The only thing I have got, the most important [thing] I have got is my honesty and my integrity. I am not squeaky clean. I try to lead a good life but every now and then you get a bit naughty, like everybody, I guess. But I have obligations, you know."

An associate describes Sturm as a man of contradictions and a control freak.

"He will be charming one minute and an absolute beast the next. I find that he preys on people's weaknesses. I'm in mixed minds about him.

"Sometimes I hate him. When he's charming he's good to talk to but he is very arrogant about how fabulous he is."

During the trial intimate details of Sturm's life, with a special focus on his sexuality and drug-taking, were put under a microscope.

Yes, he said, heterosexual men less than half his age are among the many types of people to whom he is attracted.

He told police he had been predominantly single his entire life. He had the "odd sexual encounter" with women and "don't label myself as anything".

Apart from the now-infamous "fiddlie-noo", Sturm would also use the terms "physical communication" or "man-on-man conduct" to describe sexual activity.

He seemed to deliberately downplay gay references but said he was not ashamed or embarrassed. Asked if he poured beer for some of the complainants, Sturm said, no, "men drink beer out of bottles".

He mentioned owning three bathrobes in white, blue and pink. " didn't wear the pink one much, didn't like it".

Sturm said some people might find his sex life different but he did not want to turn straight men gay. "I don't like gay."

The charges have taken a toll on his physical appearance. The police video showed a man with a full face, relaxed and without the lines now etched into his tanned skin.

In one of his musings to police, Sturm said he did not measure his success in money.

"Money doesn't make people enjoy you. Money doesn't give you a bigger penis. Success is what you feel in your head and your heart about who you are and how you have done it."