Matt and Ciara appeared in Auckland District Court in a 2-week jury trial for a client sports coach charged with historic sexual abuse allegations made by two past sportswomen in New Zealand and abroad. The first complainant alleged she was indecently assaulted when she was 15 years old, below the age of consent. The second complainant alleged that when she was aged between around 16 and 21 years old, she was raped on four occasions when our client was controlling every aspect of her life when hired by her family as fulltime coach. 

Our client accepted he had relationships with both women which were consensual, but they had opportunities to complain about the alleged abuse. In countering the second complainant it was argued there were extensive photos, text messages and iPhone messages which showed they were romantically involved and they had travelled worldwide together for the complainant to play in tournaments.  

Initially our client was charged with 10 charges and following trial, he was found guilty of five.

Conducting a second retrial, our client was charged with sexual offending against his ex-wife and the burglary of her home. 

The matter had a lengthy history. With different counsel at the first trial, the jury returned hung verdicts and the second jury returned guilty verdicts. However, Matt and Ciara successfully appealed that outcome to the Court of Appeal on the basis of trial-counsel error, the appeal was successful and it was sent back to the District Court for retrial. 

At the retrial, our client gave evidence on his version of events and was acquitted of six of the nine charges faced.