Former MP Golriz Ghahraman’s shoplifting convictions are being appealed, court documents show.
The former Green MP was denied a discharge without conviction and was fined $1600 and ordered to pay court costs in June, after admitting four charges of shoplifting. Her lawyer Annabel Cresswell had an appearance scheduled for the appeal at the Auckland High Court this morning. She declined to comment to 1News.
Ghahraman, who partly attributed her actions to poor mental health brought on by the stresses of her job, resigned from her job as a high-profile MP shortly after the allegations became known in January.
Nearly $9000 worth of items were stolen by the MP, including high-end designer clothing.
During Ghahraman’s June sentencing, Cresswell submitted the ex-MP would suffer “real and appreciable consequences” to her career prospects and ability to travel if she was convicted.
At the time, her lawyer also argued, “Ghahraman is at risk of experiencing further pronounced manifestations of her trauma, anxiety and depression due to the cumulative effects of the psychological and legal stress of a conviction.”
In her June judgment, Judge June Jelas said she didn’t believe convicting Ghahraman would have a “disproportionate adverse consequence” on continuing her legal career, or from applying for a practising certificate from the Law Society.
“It is proper that the relevant regulatory bodies make its own enquiries and assessment of persons seeking to act as legal counsel. They are consequences that Ms Ghahraman will encounter primarily as a result of her offending, not the entry of convictions.
“In any event, those consequences are not out of all proportion.”
Ghahraman described her shoplifting attempts as an act of “self-sabotage” in June, during an exclusive interview with TVNZ chief correspondent John Campbell,
Watch the full, unedited interview on our brand new home for News on TVNZ+ (Source: TVNZ)
Following the initial shoplifting charges, the MP said in January her mental health had been affected by the stresses of political life.
“This has led me to act in ways that are completely out of character. I am not trying to excuse my actions, but I do want to explain them,” she said at the time.
“People should, rightly, expect the highest standards of behaviour from their elected representatives. I fell short. I’m sorry.
“It’s not a behaviour I can explain because it’s not rational in any way, and after medical evaluation, I understand I’m not well.”
