By Anusha Bradley, RNZ investigative reporter
A Hamilton couple convicted of exploiting Pacific migrants have had their convictions quashed after the New Zealand’s Court of Appeal ruled there had been a miscarriage of justice.
Anthony Swarbrick and Christina Kewa-Swarbrick were found guilty on nine representative charges of aiding and abetting, completion of a visa application known to be false or misleading and provision of false or misleading information, at a trial in the Hamilton District Court in February 2023.
A month later, Kewa-Swarbrick, who originally came from Papua New Guinea, was sentenced to 10 months home detention. She completed nine months of that sentence.
Swarbrick served his full eight months of home detention.
In February this year the Court of Appeal found that in Swarbrick’s case, the trial judge’s summing up of the case was “not fair and balanced” leading to a “miscarriage of justice”.
It found the trial judge “undermined the defence” and “the summing up took a key issue away from the jury.”
“Viewed overall, the Judge forcefully suggested what the jury would, and impliedly should, find by way of the elements of the offence. The Judge made the ultimate assessment that was for the jury to make. The trial was unfair to Mr Swarbrick for that reason. We conclude that this resulted in a miscarriage of justice,” the decision states.
It ordered Swarbrick’s convictions be quashed and a retrial.
Charges withdrawn
It came to the same conclusions for Kewa-Swarbrick in April, but the retrial was abandoned after the Crown withdrew the charges in May, leading to the Hamilton District Court ordering the charges against the couple be dismissed.
Immigration NZ said it withdrew the charges after deciding it was no longer in the public interest to hold a re-trial.
The couple, who have since separated, are now investigating redress options from the government for the miscarriage of justice.
“We lost everything. Our marriage, our house. I lost a huge paying job offshore that I couldn’t go back to because we were on bail,” Swarbrick told RNZ.
“It’s had a huge effect, emotionally, financially. We had to take our children out of private school.”
Swarbrick had since been unable to return to his job and now had health issues as a result of the legal battles.
Kewa-Swarbrick said the court case had “destroyed” her life.
“It’s affected my home, my marriage, my children.”
Not able to return to PNG
She had not been able to return to Papua New Guinea since the case because she had received death threats.
“My health has deteriorated.”
The couple estimated they had spent at least $90,000 on legal fees, but their reputation had been severely affected by the case and media reports, preventing them from getting new jobs.
The couple’s ventures came to the attention of Immigration NZ in 2016 and charges were laid in 2018. The trial was delayed until 2023 because of the covid-19 pandemic.
Immigration NZ alleged the couple had arranged for groups of seasonal workers from Papua New Guinea to work illegally in New Zealand for very low wages between 2013 and 2016.
The trial heard the workers were led to believe they would be travelling to New Zealand to work under the RSE scheme in full time employment, receiving an hourly rate of $15 per hour, but ended up being paid well below the minimum wage.
However, Kewa-Swarbrick and Swarbrick argued they always intended to bring the PNG nationals to New Zealand for a cultural exchange and work experience.
“They fundraised $1000 each for living costs. We funded everything else. And when they got here they just completely shut us down,” said Kewa-Swarbrick.
She said it was “a relief” to finally be exonerated.
“The compensation part is going to be the last part because it will help us rebuild our lives.”
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
