Otago Daily Times
High-flyer’s bid for name suppression fails
By Rob Kidd
December 17, 2024

— Excerpt

An Otago-trained psychiatrist-to-the-stars, who failed to have a 40-year-old driving conviction quashed, has failed in his bid for secrecy.

Former All White Dr Ceri Evans has forged a career as an internationally renowned high-performance consultant, plying his trade with the All Blacks, English Premier League football club Arsenal, an NBA franchise in the United States and Australian professional sport teams…

On July 16, 1984, Evans was charged with careless driving and appeared in the Ashburton District Court.

He denied the charge a fortnight later but in September that year he was convicted, fined $75, ordered to pay costs of $33 and directed to complete a defensive driving course, which he undertook in Dunedin while studying.

Forty years later, Evans appealed the conviction to the High Court on the basis that declaring it when entering the US or Australia caused “embarrassment and inconvenience”…

The implications of the conviction meant a “miscarriage of justice” had occurred, Evans’ lawyer argued.

Justice Melanie Harland, however, was not swayed.

The merits of appeal were not strong, she said, dismissing the application…