Struck-off lawyer Davina Reid fails in her bid to the Supreme Court to be reinstated

Liam Reid and Davina Reid (nee Murray) married at Paremoremo Prison in June 2017. Photo / Herald graphic

• The Supreme Court has declined leave to appeal for reinstatement for struck-off lawyer Davina Reid.
• Reid was struck off in 2015 for smuggling contraband into prison for Liam James Reid, whom she later married.
• The Supreme Court found no miscarriage of justice or grounds to consider tikanga issues in her appeal.

Struck-off lawyer Davina Reid has again lost a bid to be reinstated as a barrister and solicitor – this time in the Supreme Court.

Reid, formerly Davina Murray, was struck off in February 2015 after taking cigarettes and an iPhone into a jail for a convicted murderer she later married.

The phone, pack of cigarettes and lighter she smuggled into prison in 2011 were for Liam James Reid, who is serving a life sentence with a 23-year non-parole period for raping and murdering Christchurch woman Emma Agnew in 2007.

Liam Reid was Davina Murray’s client at the time she smuggled in the contraband.

They later got married in a chapel at Paremoremo Prison in June 2017.

Davina Reid smuggled cigarettes and an iPhone into a prison. Photo / NZME

Davina Reid has been trying to be reinstated on the roll of barristers and solicitors since 2023.

After a tribunal refused her, she appealed to the High Court in August that year and was again turned down.

The Court of Appeal declined to hear her case, so she applied for leave to appeal directly to the Supreme Court.

Today, the Supreme Court, the country’s final court of appeal, released its decision in which it turned her down.

Reid, who once claimed there was prejudice against “any lawyer who is of Māori descent” had wanted to advance arguments in relation to te Tiriti o Waitangi and Māori tikanga in her case.

Liam James Reid is serving a life sentence with a non-parole period of 23 years for murdering Emma Agnew. Photo / NZME

She also claimed that a “substantial miscarriage of justice” had occurred, because she had been discriminated against.

But the Supreme Court said her appeal was not an “appropriate vehicle” to consider tikanga issues, nor did it see any appearance of a miscarriage of justice.

“We are not therefore satisfied that it is necessary in the interests of justice for this court to hear and determine the proposed appeal,” the decision stated.

The courts have previously been told that Davina Reid has an unwavering belief that Liam Reid is innocent.

Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of frontline experience as a probation officer.