Weatherston portrait disqualified from contest

A controversial portrait of killer Clayton Weatherston has been disqualified from a Wellington art contest because the artist, Liam Gerrard, did not get his permission to exhibit the work.

The portrait was one of 93 entered in the Adam Portraiture Award, where artists had to paint a New Zealander.

Weatherston is serving a life sentence for stabbing his girlfriend Sophie Elliott 216 times in 2008.

New Zealand Portrait Gallery spokeswoman Elizabeth Alley said the painting would be removed from the exhibition.

- NZPA