No trial in Christian right to smack case

The trial of a former Nelson man fighting for what he says is his right as a Christian to hit his son will not go ahead, after the Crown decided to offer no evidence in the case.

Rowan James Flynn, 53, was scheduled to stand trial on five charges of assaulting his 12-year-old son, when he was aged 11, and one charge of assaulting a female.

Mr Flynn, who now lives in Christchurch, also faced two charges of leaving a child under 14 without reasonable supervision.

The father of four told the Nelson Mail last year he had been charged after his son called the police.

He had hit his son about five times on the bottom with a wooden spoon after he was disobedient, and said it was a "tiny issue" that blew up. He said he also "clipped" his son around the face about a week after the incident with the wooden spoon. He told the Nelson Mail he believed his actions were justified by the Bible.

Nelson District Court Judge Tony Zohrab discharged Mr Flynn on Thursday after the Crown offered no evidence on the assault charges. The two charges of leaving a child under 14 without reasonable supervision were withdrawn Thursday morning. Crown prosecutor Janine Bonifant said the Crown had decided not to offer any evidence in the case, which was different from saying it did not believe the alleged offences had taken place.

Nelson Bays police area commander Inspector Brian McGurk said the dismissal of the charges had nothing to do with the merits of the case, the quality of evidence or the amendment to Section 59 defence.

"This was a clear case where the interests of the child had to take precedence, and the defendant in the Nelson case is well aware of those reasons, which are behind the Crown's decision not to offer any evidence," Mr McGurk said. "I am absolutely confident that the actions of my officers investigating the allegations against the father were thoroughly professional and the decision to prosecute was correct and was in the public interest."

Mr Flynn told the Nelson Mail he hadn't been told why the case wasn't being heard, but he had been looking forward to going to trial.

Mr Flynn said he thought the case had been dropped because the Crown was worried it would be exposed for "what they had done, because the whole lot was lies''.

Family First NZ national director Bob McCoskrie said the withdrawal of the charges was further evidence that good parents trying to deal with unacceptable behaviour from their children were being dragged before the courts without any evidence to back up the charges.

"This case adds to our growing list of parents who are either being convicted, charged or investigated for attempting to correct their children in the most appropriate and effective way,'' Mr McCoskrie said.

Meanwhile, the Children's Commissioner on Friday released the results of a survey that concluded that 43 per cent of those surveyed who knew of the law change giving children the same protection from assault as adults supported it.

"Only 28 per cent were opposed to the law change. The remainder were neutral,'' commissioner Cindy Kiro said. The survey is part of efforts to judge public opinion in the lead-up to a referendum due to take place in August next year on the 18-month-old law, which removed the defence of reasonable force for disciplining a child.

Dr Kiro said more than 80 per cent of adults surveyed gave a positive response to the question, "Should children be entitled to the same protection from assault as adults?''.

But Mr McCroskie said the survey showed nothing new. It said only 20 per cent disagreed with smacking in certain circumstances.

"This is consistent with all other polls done throughout the year, including research commissioned by Family First - that there is an 80 per cent opposition to the anti-smacking law because most people know that smacking for the purpose of correction is not child abuse.''3

- with NZPA

- © Fairfax NZ News