'Piss off': Female relative shoves reporter as prominent sportsman appears in court

Author: Janhavi Gosavi,
Publish Date: Mon, 27 Jul 2026, 10:44am

A prominent sportsman has appeared in court after an alleged dispute over a $36 taxi fare ended with him getting bitten by a police dog.

The man would not comment when approached by the Herald outside the Wellington District Court this morning.

An older female relative of the man became agitated and told the Herald to “piss off”, hitting a camera away as the group was escorted by security to a back entrance.

The defendant faces charges of assault with intent to injure, injuring a police dog, resisting police and causing loss by deception, a police spokeswoman said.

He appeared in Wellington District Court this morning for his first appearance on the matter, which stemmed from an incident in the suburb of Rongotai in the early hours of Saturday morning.

“Neither the [complainant] nor police dog required attention for any injuries, however the man was treated in hospital for injuries sustained by a police dog in the course of his arrest,” the spokeswoman said.

The Herald understands the incident stemmed from an allegedly unpaid taxi fare.

Charging documents show the amount of money in question is $36.10.

Defence lawyer Phil Mitchell asked for the case to be remanded without plea until next month and applied for interim name suppression for his client.

He said the man had the presumption of innocence and publishing his identity would impact his right to a fair trial.

“He has business interests that will be heavily impacted should his identity be made public at this point in time,” he told Judge Ian Carter.

Mitchell said his client had “one occupation” and his “ability to engage in that occupation” would be adversely impacted if he were to be named in news articles.

Mitchell also opposed media applications to photograph his client in court, saying they had been able to photograph him outside and would already have what they needed.

Judge Carter remanded the man on bail to reappear next month and granted interim suppression, saying there was an arguable case that would need to be dealt with at a later hearing.