NZ man who sent death threats to Jacinda Ardern has his conviction overturned
After being sentenced to 12 months in prison in March, earlier this year for sending death threats to New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Michael Cruickshank has had his conviction overturned.
Reportedly, the court on Tuesday ruled that Cruickshank made the death threats when being intoxicated and had no recollection of doing the same. The court placed emphasis on the ‘intent’ which, according to judge Simon France, Cruickshank lacked.
“The defence was that Mr Cruickshank had no recollection of sending [the death threats], but if he did send them he lacked the necessary intent primarily because of intoxication. There can be no issue that intoxication was at the heart of the defence.”
Explaining the decision, the judge said that the jury thought there had been a miscarriage of justice because the uncertainty around the defendant’s intent meant his threats could not have been real. No retrial has been ordered in the case either.
Cruickshank, in police interviews also maintained that he was too wasted to remember anything, “To be perfectly frank I do not remember sending any emails…I was absolutely wasted so it’s possible I could’ve.”
While Cruickshank may have gotten away with ‘intoxication’ as an excuse, the public is questioning whether he was drunk the entire time when he sent 88 emails over the course of four months to government officials.
As for Ardern, her popularity amongst the masses has dipped to new lows after receiving sky-high ratings at the beginning of the pandemic for her rather stellar response. Ardern recently received more flak for attempting to tax the burps of cows and sheep to cut methane emissions.
(With inputs from agencies)
