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All Black security guard not guilty of bugging

Author
Newstalk ZB Staff / NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Fri, 18 Aug 2017, 7:21PM
Adrian Gard ( Photo / AAP)
Adrian Gard ( Photo / AAP)

All Black security guard not guilty of bugging

Author
Newstalk ZB Staff / NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Fri, 18 Aug 2017, 7:21PM

An All Black security guard described in a Sydney court as "honest and loyal" by captain Kieran Reid, has been found not guilty of making up claims he found a bugging device at the team's Sydney hotel a year ago.

The Court found there was not enough evidence in the circumstantial case to convict Adrian Gard of making a false representation resulting in a police investigation in August last year.

However Gard was found guilty of a second charge of acting as a security consultant without the proper licence.

All Blacks security consultant Gard had faced a charge of making a false statement to police, but pleaded not guilty.

Gard, who has been acting as a security guard in Australia for the All Blacks for more than a decade, claimed to have found the listening device secreted in a chair in the team's meeting room at the InterContinental Hotel on August 15 last year.

The All Blacks waited for five days before calling in the police because they had hoped not to get the media involved.

However, this angered the Wallabies who who felt the announcement was ill-timed and caused an unnecessary distraction.

Although the All Blacks never accused Australia or the Wallabies of any wrongdoing, the incident soured relations between the team following speculation on social media.

Earlier today, All Blacks captain Kieran Read, giving evidence on the phone from his room at the InterContinental Hotel in Double Bay, told the Downing Centre Local Court he believed security guard Adrian Gard was "honest and loyal".

Read said he and the New Zealand team respected "Gardy" for his professionalism and the great way he did his job without hurting the team's "brand". 

Read told the court he had known Gard since 2009 and described him as a "pretty good man".

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