Law tribunal strikes off sex-offender Capill

Graham Capill is serving a jail sentence for the sexual assault of young girls. File picture / John McCombe

Disgraced moral campaigner Graham Capill has lost his right to practice law and been ordered to pay costs of more than $3000 at a disciplinary hearing in Christchurch today.

The former Christian Heritage Party leader and police prosecutor is serving a nine-year jail sentence for the sexual violation of three young girls.

At a Law Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal hearing, Capill's lawyer Jonathan Eaton said his client accepted he should be struck from the roll of barristers and solicitors because of his convictions

Capill had gained his law degree as a "hobby", and he deeply regretted bringing the profession into disrepute, Mr Eaton said.

He argued against Capill paying the full amount of costs because of his lack of income as a prisoner and the financial hardship for his family.

But the tribunal decided to awards costs of $3123, payable to the Canterbury District Law Society and New Zealand Law Society, for the costs of the prosecution and the hearing.

Capill did not appear at the hearing.