The gay former Anglican priest who stole more than $665,000 from AUT University has been sentenced to three years and two months prison. The 53-year-old, who is the former partner of ex-MP Tim Barnett, resigned from his role as Chief Executive of AUT's Business Innovation Centre in July when a complaint was made to police about the missing money after an internal audit. He pleaded guilty to seven charges including false accounting and using a document to obtain a pecuniary advantage. The Crown cited the breach of trust by someone in a high position as one of the key aggravating features, along with the substantial losses the university suffered. Kirkpatrick received a discount for his early guilty plea and a number of other mitigating factors, including his early admission of guilt and assistance with the inquiry. He was given the three year and two month sentence on the highest charge of false accounting, while he was given two years and six months jail on each of the other six charges, which are to be served concurrently. A nervous Kirkpatrick was flanked by a handful of supporters at the sentencing hearing at Auckland District Court this afternoon, which was moved to 2.15PM after being set down for 10AM. Kirkpatrick is a former dean of St Paul's Cathedral in Dunedin and was recently the priest in charge of St Albans in the Auckland suburb of Balmoral. He has been a strong gay rights advocate within the church. He was in a relationship with Barnett for 18 years, with couple moving from England to New Zealand together in 1991 when Kirkpatrick was offered a job in Christchurch. More details to follow ...
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 6th October 2011 - 3:56pm