20 Jan 2014

Private prosecution likely against Brown

2:41 pm on 20 January 2014

Retired accountant Graham McCready is to make an urgent application for his case against Auckland's mayor to be heard by a judge.

He's heading to the Auckland District Court in person at 4pm on Monday to file further paperwork in his bid to privately prosecute Len Brown.

Mr McCready is accusing the mayor of being corrupt by accepting free and upgraded hotel rooms.

Graham McCready.

Graham McCready. Photo: RNZ

Len Brown.

Len Brown. Photo: RNZ

His move follows an Ernst & Young inquiry into the affair which found he failed to declare the use of nine free hotel rooms and 64 upgrades from SkyCity.

He was also publicly censured by Auckland councillors over the free rooms and upgrades, as the failed declarations breached a code of conduct.

Mr McCready was also expected to file papers against the mayor's wife, Shan Inglis, over the free and upgraded rooms.

He now says this won't be happening because there are other things that need to happen first in his bid to get the mayor into court.

Mr McCready believes the mayor's wife still has a case to answer but it's a matter of his priorities and the resources he has.

Meanwhile, Mr Brown says he should have declared the free hotel rooms he received from SkyCity during the course of a two-year extra-marital affair.

Mr Brown was asked on Radio New Zealand's Nine to Noon programme on Monday whether he should have paid for the rooms instead.

"In hindsight that would be a fair comment to make," he said.

He says the shame and humiliation surrounding what he has been through has been intense.