Auckland District Court hears testimony from defendant charged with sexual conduct with minor.
Serial sex offender Luca Fairgray’s years-long battle to keep his name secret cost the taxpayer $120,000 in legal aid bills.
The mother of one of his victims said the bill “reads like an offensive joke” and described it as a “rort”.
Fairgray launched several appeals after name suppression was denied in relation to his sexual offending against teenage girls.
Fairgray admitted his crimes and was sentenced to home detention and supervision by an Auckland District Court judge in 2022.
While three of his victims waived their right to automatic name suppression to speak publicly about what happened and to protect other women, he fought at every step to keep his anonymity.
Each bid was unsuccessful and his final appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court.
In 2023, while he still had interim name suppression on his first case, Fairgray had sex with a 13-year-old girl and earlier this year was convicted and jailed on three charges of sexual conduct with a young person.
A breakdown of his legal aid costs to date, released to the Herald under the Official Information Act, shows Fairgray received $112,976 in legal aid funding for his two cases in the district court.
On top of that amount, the taxpayer funded Fairgray’s repeated appeals to try to keep name suppression.
Just under $20,000 was paid out for his High Court appeal, and another $23,614 for the Court of Appeal.
His legal aid fees for the Supreme Court totalled $76,688.
Fairgray appealed his recent convictions in February. A second Court of Appeal legal aid bill is listed as costing $3266 to date.
Legal Services Commissioner Tracey Baguley, in its response to the Herald, said legal aid was an important part of Aotearoa’s justice system and ensured people were not denied justice because they could not pay for representation.
Legal aid is considered a loan and people may have to repay some or all of their legal aid bill, depending on their income and assets.
Luca Fairgray testifying in the Auckland District court earlier this year. Photo / Supplied
One of Fairgray’s survivors who waived their automatic right to name suppression was Auckland woman Mia Edmonds.
Her mother, Tracey Edmonds, told the Herald she was “so dismayed” by Fairgray’s legal aid bill and pointed out the cost the Crown would have also incurred in opposing the “endless name suppression appeals”.
“His legal aid-funded appeals prevented his latest victim from being able to protect herself from him ...”
“The multiple survivors, though? No financial assistance for them. I think they were paid $120 per full day of court attendances. In contrast to Luca, his survivors were forced to rely on handouts – the generosity of a volunteer victim advocate, donated pro-bono legal services from private lawyers and their own commitment to protect other young women from this predator,” Tracey Edmonds said.
Rosie Veldkamp (left) and Mia Edmonds bravely waived their automatic name suppression to speak out about Luca Fairgray's offending. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
She believed Fairgray’s funding for his name suppression appeals read “like an offensive joke”.
“How is any of this promoting justice? It’s a misnomer to describe this system as a justice system at all. Let’s call it what it is – a rort."
Fairgray’s serial sexual crimes
Fairgray’s serial sexual offending began in 2017, when he and his first victim were 14.
In 2018, he sexually offended against two girls, one of whom he raped while she was unconscious at a party.
Two of the charges related to consensual intercourse with another 13-year-old, resulting in two charges of having a sexual connection with a young person.
Later that night he got on top of and restrained his sixth victim, before he was interrupted by the fifth girl.
His sentence for his crimes in his first case was reduced due to his guilty plea, mental health issues, youth and a recent diagnosis of high-functioning autism.
In February, a jury found Fairgray, who is now 22, guilty of three more recent charges relating to a sexual relationship he had with a 13-year-old girl.
The jury that convicted Fairgray was not told of his prior convictions.
It was not disputed that the pair had sex or that the girl had been 13, but the defence unsuccessfully argued the complainant had said she was 16 and that Fairgray believed her.
Katie Harris is an Auckland-based journalist who covers issues such as sexual assault, workplace misconduct, media, crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2020.
