The Supreme Court has quashed the conviction of a man found guilty of indecent assault against a boy aged 13, 20-years ago.
The man was sentenced to five months home detention and 200 hours of community work after a District Court trial in Palmerston North in 2011.
The Supreme Court found that the complainant's evidence was unreliable and that the trial Judge's failure to warn the jury about that was a miscarriage of justice.
The man was accused of assaulting the boy during a school drama production but the evidence the boy gave was conflicting.
The man had paid the complainant $500 when they met by chance in 1993 after the complainant accused him of ruining his life but the court heard that the accused denied it was an admission of any wrong doing.
