A man accused of gunning down a prominent Mongrel Mob leader in front of a South Auckland church a week before Christmas has appeared for the first time in the High Court at Auckland, where he pleaded not guilty to murder.
Justice Sally Fitzgerald approved a request from defence lawyer Matthew Goodwin that the 41-year-old Henderson resident keep interim name suppression. Other aspects of the case are also suppressed. Read full article here.
We are happy to advise that our law clerk, Spencer Wells, has recently been admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court.
He has now begun his role within Goodwin Law as a junior barrister, and we look forward to watching his development.
We advise that after close to 5 years working at Goodwin Law, Ciara Chester-Cronin has left the practice, effective from 4 April 2025. We wish her all the best with her future endeavours.
We are pleased to announce that Ciara will be replaced by another successful criminal lawyer, who commences on 12 April (details to be announced shortly). Our law clerk Spencer Wells, who has worked for the practice for 3 years, moves into a fulltime role as a junior following his admission to the Bar on 23 May.
“I would like to thank you Matt for everything over the last 3.5 years. It definitely was a long and hard process but I am very satisfied with his work. From the beginning my matter was full of emotions and lots of patience from Matt’s end and that showed for the duration of my case – it helped me know that I was in good hands and that he tried his best, right to the end. I do have some regrets from my end however, I accept my sentence and know that there was nothing else we could do so for that I am thankful. I wish Matt the best and hope to see him soon!”
ML
BT was charged with driving with excess breath alcohol. BT was assisted by Ciara and pleaded guilty early in the proceedings and applied for a discharge without conviction.
The incident occurred after BT made the erroneous decision to drive after celebrating her university graduation with friends, going to bed and sleeping for a number of hours before waking up early in the morning to leave the address. When stopped by Police, BT returned an alcohol-breath reading of 662 mcgs.
At sentencing Ciara outlined for the judge how BT had a difficult past which she had overcome to obtain a degree as a healthcare professional. However, the impact of a conviction would stymie the progression of her career, which was only at an early stage and BT had completed various courses to make amends for her actions.
The application was successful and a discharge without conviction was granted.