Man accused of vandalising Jewish cemetery proclaims innocence

One of the men accused of vandalising a Jewish cemetery in central Auckland is proclaiming his innocence.

Nathan Symington and two others are charged with wilful damage over the attack on 20 headstones which had Nazi symbols and anti-Semitic slogans spray painted on them.

The other two have name suppression.

Symington says it is an awful situation and police have the wrong people.

"They've got their profiling all wrong, it's a witch hunt, they just want to point the stick at someone. I feel like killing myself over this because my name has been publicly shamed , my mental state's not all there because of this, my missus and daughter have become targets."

Symington says he's innocent, and the whole thing is a police smear campaign against him..

He's critical of how the police are handling the case.

"There's a lot of crimes that are a lot worse. You need to like actually go find something that matters because this doesn't, it's ruining my life and I feel like ending it because of this."

The men will reappear in court on November 13.

Photo: Jacob Brown