Sports star's name suppression not backed by police

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It turns out that the police do not support name suppression for the sports star who is accused of rape.

A court official in Hamilton revealed that the intent of name suppression was to hide the sport the man played. But the Waikato Times published which team he played for, thus reducing the name suppression to no effect.

It seems like a murky case of contempt of court. Name suppression has its reasons; the presumption of innocence is more important to protect than naming anyone at all that is accused of crimes by anybody at all. The reputation of any man accused of rape is going to be tarnished.

It may also weaken the police case. Letting guilty rapists get away with it is an even worse outcome.

Swift justice for one and all - is the answer. It is not always helped by media speculation.

The media is there to report on the case after due process has occurred, not before.