NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Budget 2025
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Ambo officer accused of sexual assault found guilty on all charges

By Sam Hurley
Hawkes Bay Today·
13 Nov, 2014 01:29 AM6 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Christopher King said in court that the allegations against him were 'definitely not true'

Christopher King said in court that the allegations against him were 'definitely not true'

Former Waipukurau ambulance officer Christopher Roger King has been found guilty on all charges by a jury at Napier District Court.

The jurors came to a unanimous verdict in the case of the former St John officer accused of sexually assaulting four women in the back of his ambulance.

King's trial has lasted nine days at the Napier District Court.

The 48-year-old was found guilty of eight sex charges, including the sexual violation, stupefaction and making of intimate visual recordings of a then 15-year-old girl.

Police said they were pleased with the guilty verdict handed down to King.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Detective Grant Jarvis, who was in charge of the case, said the verdict was a relief for the victims, who had had the courage to come forward to police and endure a lengthy trial.

"This has obviously been a very stressful time for these women and we acknowledge the courage it has taken to give evidence in court. We appreciate what they have done to enable us to bring this man to justice," Mr Jarvis said.

The victims were also pleased with the guilty verdict, he said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

King had earlier said all the accusations against him were "definitely not" true. There were four female complainants, who were aged 15 to 57, between January 2010 and June 2013.

The jury of six men and six women retired to consider their verdicts at 11am.

Yesterday, Crown Prosecutor Steve Manning said the jurors "have heard, during this trial, someone lying".

"There can be no other way to look at it, either these women are lying or Mr King is lying," he said.

Discover more

New Zealand|crime

Sex accused ambo denies allegations

11 Nov 12:08 AM
New Zealand

'Unluckiest ambulance officer' in NZ

12 Nov 01:20 AM
New Zealand|crime

Former ambo officer found guilty of sexual assault

12 Nov 10:31 PM
New Zealand|crime

Prison programme for child abusers celebrates success

13 Nov 02:22 AM

Mr Manning said there was "overwhelming evidence" in the case which "will take [the jury] to a position of guilt on all charges".

He said either King was guilty or there was an "implausible coincidence" that not one, but four women came forward with the same allegation.

There was no room for collusion between the four women, because "they were all independent of each other", Mr Manning said.

"The uniform, that St John uniform, rightfully is a symbol of respect in this community," Mr Manning said.

"That same uniform became a protective cloak for Mr King, a cloak beneath which he hid his true intentions."

King's lawyer, Bill Calver, said the allegations against his client became a "perfect storm of four very unfortunate events converging".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Judge Geoff Rea urged the jurors to "use your common sense and infer from the facts which has been presented to you".

"What you can't do is guess or speculate."

THE COMPLAINANTS

First alleged victim:

On July 24, 2013 a then-15-year-old teenage girl phoned 111 asking for medical assistance. It was later established she was the victim of a domestic assault.

King arrived at the Central Hawkes Bay home, in a single-crewed ambulance, and prepared to transport the teen to the Waipukurau Medical Centre.

GPS tracking evidence has shown the ambulance travelled for 10 minutes after leaving the home at 3pm, before stopping on the side of the road, near Waipawa.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

There, during a 10-minute window between 3.10pm and 3.20pm, the Crown alleges the teenager was administered Entonox, a pain-relief gas, to knock her out before King first violated and filmed her.

CCTV footage showed King's ambulance arriving with the teen at the medical centre at 3.26pm.

The Crown alleges during the 4.40 minutes the ambulance is parked outside the medical centre King again violated and filmed the teen.

An electronic forensic expert discovered "digital footprints" on King's cell phone, which showed a video was created at 3:15:29pm and again at 3:27:11pm.

The data also showed the second video was deleted at 3:31:13pm, while the first video was deleted five seconds later at 3:31:18pm.

King denies ever inappropriately touching the teen and said he "accidentally" made the recordings on his phone, which captured nothing more than a "blank screen".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Second alleged victim:

On June 23, 2013 a 57-year-old woman phoned 111 following a slip in the shower.

King and another ambulance officer arrived at the woman's Waipukurau home and prepared to transport her to Hawkes Bay Hospital, in Hastings.

The woman alleges during the journey King slipped his hand under her sweatshirt and underpants.

She said after arriving at the hospital King lingered near her before grasping her right shoulder and saying: "I'll be in touch."

The woman said she was then "bombarded" by "very intimate" text messages and phone calls from King.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

However the woman, who has a history of mental health issues, said she "foolishly" replied with messages of her own and a text relationship began.

Two days after the incident the woman first spoke of the alleged assault to her psychiatrist, but it was more than a month before she told her Waipukurau GP and informed police.

King denies ever violating the woman while in the ambulance and said he only participated in a text relationship because he was "flattered" with the woman's attention.

The other paramedic in the ambulance at the time of the alleged assault has said he noticed nothing suspicious.

Third alleged victim:

A terminally ill 23-year-old woman required transporting to hospital for treatment on March 29, 2012.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The woman passed away in February this year, but her allegations against King were played to the jury via a video recording of a 2013 police interview.

The woman said King was one of two ambulance officers to transport her from her Waipawa home to Hawkes Bay Hospital.

She told police that King molested her while on the way to hospital.

King denies ever touching the woman in a sexual nature. His lawyer, Bill Calver, has also expressed his disappointment, during closing arguments, in not having the ability to cross-examine the deceased complainant.

Fourth alleged victim:

In February 2010 a 43-year-old Waipukurau woman began experiencing stomach pain. King was one of three ambulance officers to arrive at the home and treat the woman.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The woman also suffers from conversion disorder, which paralyses the left side of her body in times of stress.

After dropping one of the St John officers at the Waipukurau ambulance station the remaining two paramedics, including King, proceeded to transport the woman to Hawkes Bay Hospital.

The woman said King administered Entonox gas for the woman's stomach pain.

She claims King then violated her from underneath a blanket as he placed his hand between her legs. She said she then experienced a conversion attack as a result of the alleged violation.

After arriving at the hospital she notified her daughter, who called the police.

Hawkes Bay Police initially elected not to press charges, however, the woman wrote a letter of complaint to St John.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

After further allegations were later revealed about King's treatment of patients, the woman pressed charges against him.

King denies ever touching the woman inappropriately, while the other paramedic in the ambulance recalls nothing suspicious.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

'Can't stop our motion': Run It Straight CEO on cancelled events

23 May 08:25 AM
New Zealand

'No other persons sought': Homicide probe continues over 77yo man's death

23 May 08:00 AM
New Zealand

Cook Islands declares dengue fever outbreak, seven cases confirmed

23 May 07:37 AM

The Hire A Hubby hero turning handyman stereotypes on their head

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

'Can't stop our motion': Run It Straight CEO on cancelled events

'Can't stop our motion': Run It Straight CEO on cancelled events

23 May 08:25 AM

The group gave away $3000 in gift cards, sponsor T-shirts, and $1000 cash.

'No other persons sought': Homicide probe continues over 77yo man's death

'No other persons sought': Homicide probe continues over 77yo man's death

23 May 08:00 AM
Cook Islands declares dengue fever outbreak, seven cases confirmed

Cook Islands declares dengue fever outbreak, seven cases confirmed

23 May 07:37 AM
Former top cop 'strongly denies' acting inappropriately over firearms licences

Former top cop 'strongly denies' acting inappropriately over firearms licences

23 May 07:23 AM
Gold demand soars amid global turmoil
sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP