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An Auckland man has been handed a suspended six-month prison term for contempt of court in relation to material published on the internet.
Vince Siemer, who has already spent time at Auckland's Mt Eden Prison, has been told he will go back to jail unless he removes the material by August 1 and gives an undertaking that it will not be put back on websites.
A High Court decision released today said Vince Siemer's actions had "constituted a serious and deliberate attempt to thwart and impede the proper administration of justice".
Justices Lester Chisholm and Warwick Gendall said they found it proven beyond reasonable doubt that Siemer had continued to defy the courts since he was given a six-week jail term for contempt last year.
The case relates to material Siemer published about Michael Stiassny and the firm Ferrier Hodgson.
Between December 2000 and July 2001, Stiassny, of Ferrier Hodgson, was the receiver of Paragon Services Ltd, of which Siemer had been managing director.
During a two-day hearing last month, Solicitor-General David Collins had sought to have Siemer imprisoned indefinitely for allegedly defying a court order.
Justices Chisholm and Gendall said they were reluctant to commit Siemer to prison, but his stubborn defiance left them with no choice.
"This is the third of a series of contempts by Mr Siemer," they said in a written judgement.
"He has failed to respond to the previous sanctions imposed by the court, the most recent being a six-week sentence of imprisonment."
They added: "He seems to be unwilling to accept, or incapable of accepting, that he is obliged to obey the injunction regardless of what he thinks of it."
The judges said a writ of arrest would be issued to bring Siemer before the court on August 1, when he would be committed to prison for six months.
However, both the writ and the prison order would be suspended to allow Siemer a last chance to remove offending material from the internet and to provide an undertaking that it would not be put back.
Failure to "take advantage of this indulgence" would lead to the prison sentence going ahead.
However, if the material was removed and the undertaking given, the judges would hear further submissions from Dr Collins and Siemer on the appropriate penalty.
"We hope that the merciful approach that we have taken will avoid us having to perform the unhappy task of sending Mr Siemer to prison for six months," they said.
"But he needs to understand that we will not hesitate to do so if his defiance of the injunction continues."
In 2005, Justice Ellen Grant granted an interim injunction restraining Siemer from publishing specified information.
An appeal to the Court of Appeal challenging the decision failed.
Justice Judith Potter later found Siemer had breached the order and fined him $15,000.
An appeal to the Court of Appeal was dismissed and an application for leave to go the Supreme Court was declined.
Justice Potter subsequently found that Siemer was in contempt for a second time and jailed him for six weeks.
- NZPA
