The Queenstown bouncer who tried to sell CCTV footage of a member of the Royal family leaving a bar with a woman has had his original conviction reinstated.
The Queen's granddaughter, Zara Phillips, and her husband, Mark Tindall, in 2012. Photo: AFP
Former rugby player Mike Tindall, who is married to the Queen's granddaughter Zara Phillips, was in New Zealand with the England rugby squad during the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Mr Tindall was seen socialising with a woman at the Base bar before leaving with her, and the incident was recorded on the bar's CCTV.
Bouncer Jonathan Dixon heard about the incident, secured the relevant footage and tried unsuccessfully to sell it to overseas media before eventually posting it on YouTube.
He was found guilty of dishonestly obtaining property and sentenced, in August 2013, to four months' community detention and 300 hours' community service, but appealed the conviction and sentence, arguing he could not have dishonestly obtained property because under the Crimes Act video footage was not classed as property.
The Court of Appeal quashed his conviction and replaced it with another, relating to a different part of the Act, for accessing the footage on a computer to obtain a benefit. His sentence stood.
He then appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing the Court of Appeal erred in dismissing his sentence appeal.
Dixon represented himself at the hearing and argued there had been a miscarriage of justice as a result of errors in summing up to the jury by Judge Phillips, who presided over Dixon's trial in the Queenstown District Court.
However, the Supreme Court rejected that and today released its decision to unanimously dismiss his appeal. It also reinstated his original conviction, and ordered him to report to the Probation Service by 28 October to make arrangements to complete his sentence.
