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NZ Herald Peter and Pieter
Stewart. Prominent Canterbury
businessman Peter Maxwell Stewart has gone to jail for three-and-a-half years
still asserting his innocence for historic sexual abuse convictions and has
immediately signalled an appeal. The Christchurch
High Court was full of family, friends and business associates as 62-year-old
Stewart - son of PDL founder Sir Robertson Stewart - was sentenced by Justice
Graham Panckhurst. The victim and her
family were also there to see the sentencing, two months after the end of the
trial in which the woman gave evidence of abuse by Stewart from when she was
aged eight to 14 years. The offending was
from 1968 to 1974 when Stewart was in his 20s. Defence counsel Jonathan Eaton
sought a reduced sentence for Stewart's blameless life since then, and the
public vilification that had taken place since his conviction on five charges
of indecency, one of rape, and one of sodomy. Outside court, Mr
Eaton told media Stewart was grateful for the continued support of family and
friends "which steadfastly continues today". He said an appeal
would immediately be filed and he would therefore make no further comment. A statement from the
family of the victim, a woman now in her 40s, said that the conviction of
Stewart brought some closure for her and those close to her. "Over the past
three years this horrible situation has devastated, disintegrated and
destroyed families and extended families. It has stretched or ruined long
term friendships. This is minor to the fact that the victim has lived with
her own hell for most of her life," the statement said, asking for privacy
for the woman. Mr Eaton told the
court Stewart still "adamantly maintains his innocence". His good
character came through compellingly and overwhelmingly in more than 50
unsolicited references submitted to the court. "They speak of
a man who is generous, loyal, kind, considerate, and who has made a
considerable contribution to his farming community in Hororata." He expected
Stewart's age and status in the community would cause difficulties in prison.
"This is undoubtedly a case where the fact of imprisonment rather than
the term of imprisonment is what is going to have the significant
impact." Justice Panckhurst
said that although the convictions were not on representative charges he
regarded them as "a course of conduct". Crown prosecutor
Phil Shamy said: "This was a course of conduct which involved grooming,
game playing, and leading to violation." The offending had
been against a young girl who was a vulnerable victim. Justice Panckhurst
said the indecency offences had happened first, involving touching, masturbation,
and one of oral contact. The sodomy on the girl had been "thankfully a
single and isolated incident" when she was aged about 13, and had caused
bleeding. The rape took place
when she had broken her ankle in a ski accident and Stewart was driving her
for medical attention. She had endured the act so that the journey could
continue. The jury seemed to
have accepted her frank evidence that she had later become infatuated with
him, and they had returned not guilty verdicts on four more rape charges. They
could not agree on one other rape count. "You are
entitled to significant credit on account of the fact that you are before the
court aged 62 as a first offender." He noted references describing
Stewart as "generous, trustworthy, moral, sociable, and gentlemanly". "How is one to
regard the crimes that you committed as a young man? I can only see them as a
stand-alone aberrant period in an otherwise good life." He was satisfied
there was no need for personal deterrence. No reparation
payment had been sought by the victim, nor offered by Stewart. He noted there could
be no expression of remorse because Stewart continued to assert his innocence
despite the evidence at the trial. He had admitted having consensual sex with
the woman once when she was aged 17. After the
sentencing, the Stewart family issued a statement "to make public their
united and absolute support for Peter Stewart". "The family,
including Peter's wife Pieter and their children, fully believe in his
innocence and are committed to fighting for that outcome. Preparations for an
appeal are already under way," the statement reads. |