Botany pedestrian death: Anthony Williamson, accused of killing Miaoyuan Liang, loses suppression bid

A Takapuna builder who was charged in August with the alleged manslaughter of a 70-year-old woman can now be named.

An interim name suppression order lapsed today for Anthony David Williamson, 45.

Williamson is alleged to have been driving near the intersection of Cascades and Botany Rds in Botany, East Auckland, around 12.30pm on September 10, 2022, when an incident occurred that resulted in the hospitalisation of pedestrian Miaoyuan Liang.

Liang died five days later at Auckland City Hospital.

It would be another 11 months before police filed the manslaughter charge, which carries a punishment of up to life imprisonment if convicted. He is accused in court documents of having caused Liang’s death by driving dangerously.

Williamson first appeared in Manukau District Court in August this year and pleaded not guilty to the charge when it was transferred to the High Court at Auckland the following month.

In a hearing in November before Justice Laura O’Gorman, defence lawyer Panama Le’au’anae asked for interim name suppression to remain in place for his client until his August 2024 trial. Crown prosecutor Jacinda Bragg opposed the request.

Arguments made during the name suppression hearing remain suppressed, as are the contents of Justice O’Gorman’s reserved judgment one day later declining the defence request.

The judge allowed interim name suppression to remain in place until today so that Williamson could have time to contemplate whether he would contest the decision through the Court of Appeal. He did not do so.

Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.