Liz Gunn trial: trespass charges dismissed against anti-vaccine activist and cameraman, assault charge remains

An Auckland Airport security worker says she felt intimidated and was questioned about her nationality by anti-vaccination activist and former TVNZ host Liz Gunn on the day she was allegedly assaulted.

Gunn says she merely tapped her on the arm to get her attention amid what she described as bullying behaviour from the security staffer.

She also accused the police of inflicting lasting physical and mental trauma on her after she was arrested and handcuffed by a senior constable.

The judge-alone trial for Gunn, 64, began today at the Manukau District Court after she was charged with assault, resisting police, and wilful trespass stemming from an incident at Auckland Airport on February 25, 2023.

Gunn had attempted to film an interview at the international arrivals terminal without the permission of airport officials.

Also on trial is her cameraman, Jonathan Clark, 50, who was charged with wilfully trespassing and resisting arrest but not assault.

This afternoon, several hours after the trial began, her lawyer applied for dismissal of all charges on the grounds that there was no case to answer.

Judge Janey Forrest dismissed the trespass charges on the grounds that she was not satisfied the prosecution could prove the pair failed to leave the airport after being requested and given the opportunity to do so.

The assault and resisting arrest charges remain.

Gunn started giving evidence on Tuesday afternoon but the clock reached 5pm before police had finished their cross examination. The judge adjourned the trial until Friday and cautioned Gunn not to discuss her evidence with anyone else.

Supporters have packed into the courtroom’s public gallery and were repeatedly cautioned by Judge Forrest for making noise during the hearing, including laughing during the evidence of a police witness.

As the Herald was speaking to Gunn outside the courtroom, a supporter approached her and handed her a $50 note. Another supporter in the public gallery wore a medical face mask with its mouth covering cut out.

Gunn and Clark are represented by Wellington barrister Matthew Hague, who succeeded with a late application before the trial to call a former police constable as a witness as part of the defence case.

Police prosecutor Jerome Beveridge opposed the application, saying the man had not been a police officer since 1996 and had no special operational knowledge about policies regarding the use of force.

Beveridge called as his first witness Auckland Airport security co-ordinator Anna Kolodeznaya.

Kolodeznaya said she approached Gunn and Clark, whom she said appeared to be a reporter and a cameraman using professional equipment.

She told them they needed permission from the airport to film using professional equipment in the terminal.

Gunn replied that they were volunteers filming friends and were not making money, Kolodeznaya said.

She said Gunn then began questioning her about airport policies and the law.

“I felt very intimidated at this time because of their body language ... towards me,” Kolodeznaya said.

Liz Gunn arrives at the Manukau District Court ahead of her trial on Tuesday. Photo / Michael Craig

Gunn then grabbed Kolodeznaya’s arm with a force the witness described as a five-out-of-10, sparking an incredulous reaction from Gunn supporters in the public gallery.

“I had an injury on my upper arm. That’s why I felt sharp pain,” Kolodeznaya said.

The interaction was filmed by both airport CCTV and Clark, with both sets of footage played to the court.

Gunn had been attempting to chronicle the arrival into New Zealand of a family kept in lockdown in Tokelau after refusing the Covid-19 vaccine.

Kolodeznaya asked if she had permission to film, and Gunn replied that she was just like other people in the terminal filming on their phones.

“We are volunteers. We do it for love,” Gunn said.

Gunn then questioned the woman about her nationality.

“Where are you from originally?” she asked.

“It doesn’t matter,” Kolodeznaya replied.

“Well, it matters to me. Because the way it started in Germany was with little freedoms being taken,” Gunn said.

When Gunn took to the witness box after the police closed its case, she described herself as a trained lawyer and retired mainstream media journalist now working on volunteer freelance journalism pieces where she feels the truth is being hidden.

Gunn said she found Kolodeznaya aggressive and confrontational and claimed she did not tap her with any force. She described herself as a “very gesticulating person”.

“To hear her say it was a five-out-of-10 pain level, it absolutely flabbergasted me today,” Gunn said.

“It felt like a bullying exchange from go to woah.”

She described the arrest of her cameraman as like “something out of a rugby field”.

When she was arrested, she said the officer grabbed her and forced her hand down with a “crushing move”, injuring her shoulder.

“The pain was excruciating,” she said.

Gunn said she was left with torn ligaments after the arrest.

“I can’t swim, I can’t play tennis, I paid a huge price for a year of physical debilitation because of what he did.”

Beveridge, cross-examining Gunn, asked about her comments to Kolodeznaya where she alluded to Nazi Germany.

“So you’re comparing someone who simply queried why you’re filming to Nazi Germany, yes or no?” Beveridge asked.

“That is a complete twisting of my words,” Gunn said.

"I did not compare her to a Nazi.

“After she left I felt there were real comparisons. But I didn’t say it to her face.”

During his cross-examination of police witnesses, Hague repeatedly honed in on the fact that while the airport filming regulations prohibit filming for commercial purposes without permission, they say nothing about whether the use of professional equipment means a crew requires permission.

Senior Constable Erich Postlewaight said after he arrived on the scene and told the pair “Hello, we need you to leave now”, Gunn shoved a microphone in his face and attempted to interview him.

When he tried to arrest her about 20 seconds later, he said she pulled away from his grip, and Postlewaight said he had to push away her supporters who came to her aid.

She continued resisting when she was taken outside and he attempted to handcuff her, he said.

Hague, in cross-examination, questioned the level of force used by police and the short time between Postlewaight and his police colleague arriving on the scene and arresting Gunn.

“There was nothing preventing you from taking more than 18, 19, 20 seconds to de-escalate and communicate before arresting Ms Gunn?” Hague asked.

“You can get a lot done in 18 seconds,” the officer replied.

Liz Gunn and Mike Hosking hosted Breakfast together in 2001 before Gunn quit live on-air.

If convicted, Gunn faces a maximum possible sentence of six months’ imprisonment while Clark faces up to three months.

Liz Gunn is greeted by supporters ahead of today's court appearance. Photo / Michael Craig

Gunn began presenting the Sunday programme for TVNZ in the early 1990s following a career as a litigation lawyer.

She joined Breakfast when it started in 1997 and four years later took over as co-host of the show alongside Mike Hosking, later prompting headlines when she quit live on air.

She also hosted a number of shows for Radio New Zealand before leaving in 2016.

More recently, she has garnered a following on social media for her stance against Covid vaccines.

She appeared at the High Court at Auckland in 2022, a prominent supporter of the parents in the high-profile case of Baby W. The parents had sought a court injunction to stop their child from receiving a blood transfusion from anyone who had received the Covid vaccine during a life-saving surgery at Starship Hospital.