Masseur denied appeal on indecent assault charge

File photo / Bay of Plenty Times

A Palmerston North masseur has been denied leave by the Supreme Court to appeal a conviction for inappropriately touching a client.

Brendon Clive Dorn was sentenced at Palmerston North District Court in May last year to nine months' jail after being found guilty on two counts of indecently assaulting a woman in January 2008.

The trial jury was told Dorn touched a woman's breasts and briefly slipped his fingers into her underwear while giving her a massage at the Palmerston North massage business he ran with his wife.

Dorn appealed to the Court of Appeal against the convictions and sentence verdicts on the grounds they were unreasonable and inconsistent.

The court quashed the first conviction and reduced his sentence to four months' home detention on the other.

In a Supreme Court decision released today, Dorn was denied leave to appeal against the second conviction.

Justices Dame Sian Elias, Peter Blanchard and William Young said they were satisfied there had been no miscarriage of justice.

- NZPA