Mayor's letter backed 'animal' rapist

Meng Foon. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Gisborne Mayor Meng Foon says he made a mistake when he wrote a letter in support of a man who raped a woman then got a takeaway meal before returning to rape her again.

Mr Foon, Gisborne's multi-lingual mayor who is seeking re-election, unwittingly wrote the letter for convicted rapist Joseph Donnelly.

It was cited by a judge in the Palmerston North District Court last week when Donnelly, 44, was sentenced to 11 years and 10 months in jail for twice raping the woman.

The court heard how he had raped her "like an animal" and then gone out for takeaways before returning to rape her again.

The December 2008 crime happened days after he was acquitted of raping a 17- year-old in Gisborne.

Yesterday, Mr Foon told the Herald he wrote the letter at the request of Donnelly's wife, who had asked him about three months ago to verify her husband's involvement in a Gisborne rugby league competition last year.

He said he was aware of some aspects of Donnelly's past, but the letter was "not a character reference".

"The kaupapa [purpose] for the team was no drugs, no alcohol and no violence," said Mr Foon, who is also a NZ Rugby League board member.

"All of these rules were adhered to and they went on to have a good season in the Tairawhiti competition, and those were the facts in the letter that I documented."

Mayor Foon said that had he known Donnelly was facing rape charges, "I wouldn't have written this letter".

The victim, who has name suppression, told the court Donnelly had humiliated her and the vision of his tattooed face still haunted her.

"I was degraded and treated like an animal. I will never forget that or the words that were spat at me," she said.

"My view of the world changed that day. I have walked around in a haze clouded by fear."

At the sentencing, Judge Gerard Lynch said it seemed Donnelly had helped young men who were on the cusp of imprisonment to turn their lives around through rugby league.

But Detective Senior Sergeant Craig Scott said Donnelly had been a high-profile offender for years.

He rejected suggestions that Donnelly had been a contributing member of society.

"We do not subscribe to the theory that people join the Mongrel Mob to assist the public."