Man accused of sexual relationship with 13-year-old named

Wednesday, 11 September 2024

Luca Benedict Kercher Fairgray can now be named as the man accused of having a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old.

He fought for 10 months to keep his name secret.

Fairgray failed in the District Court and again on appeal in the High Court

A man accused of having a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old girl can now be named.

Luca Benedict Kercher Fairgray was 20-years-old when the police allege he had a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old girl for three months.

Now aged 21, he has denied three charges of sexual connection with a young person under 16.

Two of those charges are “representative”, meaning the police allege Fairgray had sex with the under-age girl on more than one occasion.

He also faces a charge of supplying cannabis to a person under 18.

Fairgray has fought to keep his name secret since first appearing in court in November 2023.

Judge Pippa Sinclair declined to grant him name suppression after a hearing in the Auckland District Court in June.

Fairgray appealed to the High Court in Auckland.

His lawyer Sue Gray said there had been breaches of the suppression order on social media and her client had faced vigilante attacks on his family home.

She said that allowing the publication of Fairgray’s name would create a heightened risk to his rights to a fair trial.

The Crown and Stuff opposed. Prosecutor Pip McNabb sighted the importance of open justice and freedom of speech and said there was public interest in the case.

She also pointed out that police and the Crown had been quick to have the suppression breaches removed online.

Justice Layne Harvey declined Fairgray’s appeal.

In his decision, released to media on Tuesday, Justice Harvey agreed with the Crown that the suppression breaches had not been online for long.

“I do not accept that the breaches reported by counsel meet the high threshold of extreme hardship to warrant ongoing name suppression.”

He acknowledged the vandalism to Fairgray’s family home would be “distressing”, but again, it did not meet the high threshold needed to justify name suppression.

A 12th hour bid by Fairgray’s lawyer to have name suppression continue due to the recent death of a family member and because his mother was out of the country was turned down.

Justice Harvey acknowledged the loss would be traumatic but said it was not grounds to extend name suppression.

Fairgray is scheduled to face a seven-day jury trial in January 2025.