{"id":163973,"date":"2025-12-02T07:49:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T07:49:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/163973\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T07:49:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T07:49:07","slug":"leo-molloy-censured-ordered-to-pay-23k-by-vet-council-for-grace-millane-suppression-breach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/163973\/","title":{"rendered":"Leo Molloy censured, ordered to pay $23k by Vet Council for Grace Millane suppression breach"},"content":{"rendered":"

Now, Molloy, who was a veterinarian for decades before making the move to hospitality, is facing a Judicial Committee of the Veterinary Council for his conviction more than four years ago<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Veterinarians, like most licensed professionals, are bound by a professional code that governs the ethics of how they act, whether they\u2019re on the job or not. <\/p>\n

In this case, the Veterinary Council sets those standards and takes action against practitioners it says have violated that code, in this case by being convicted in the district court. <\/p>\n

In essence, Molloy\u2019s conviction for breaching a court suppression order is not directly related to his work as a vet, but the council says his behaviour is essentially un-vet-like and breaches the ethical code his licence is contingent upon. <\/p>\n

Molloy hasn\u2019t practised as a vet since the early 2000s and his status on the register of veterinarians was changed to \u201cretired – registered\u201d in 2023. <\/p>\n

\"GraceGrace Millane was killed in Auckland in December 2018, with the case making international headlines. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

At a hearing held this morning, the committee heard that while Molloy was remorseful for his conduct, he maintained the deliberate breach of the court order was \u201caltruistic\u201d. <\/p>\n

An error of judgment <\/p>\n

In an affidavit to the tribunal, Molloy said he accepted breaching the court order was a \u201cserious error of judgment\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand that such orders exist to protect the integrity of the justice system and my personal views \u2013 although altruistic \u2013 did not justify non-compliance,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was motivated by strong feelings of frustration and what I perceived to be injustice and unfairness in the treatment of the victim, Ms Millane.\u201d<\/p>\n

Molloy said his conviction did not reflect adversely on his ability to practise as a vet, or that it brought discredit to the profession, because it has no connection to veterinary practice, animal welfare, or veterinary ethics.<\/p>\n

Molloy said he had already been punished by the courts; it was his only disciplinary hearing in 36 years, he had been retired from the industry for 10 years and his conduct had no connection to his work as a vet. <\/p>\n

His lawyer Quentin Duff said the offending wasn\u2019t an honesty or integrity issue, and that Molloy\u2019s actions were altruistic and born out of frustration with the perceived injustice in the treatment of a murder victim.<\/p>\n

Duff conceded it was misguided, but his client felt it required a response. <\/p>\n

\u201cNotwithstanding his altruistic motivations, he has expressed remorse and accepted that the offending was an error of judgment,\u201d Duff said in his submissions to the tribunal. <\/p>\n

\"JesseJesse Kempson in the dock during his sentencing at the High Court at Auckland for murdering Grace Millane. Photo \/ Brett Phibbs<\/p>\n

Duff said he suspected the wider public would agree with Molloy\u2019s intentions, if not his actions in breaking the law. <\/p>\n

\u2018Our professional obligations don\u2019t end when we close the office door\u2019<\/p>\n

The jury in Kempson\u2019s murder trial had retired after a weeks-long trial that attracted the attention of media around the world, but at the time his name was still secret because he faced two further trials<\/a> for violent sexual offending against two women.<\/p>\n

Before Kempson was named,<\/a> however, Molloy started a discussion on the NZ Premier Racing Community\u2019s website while the jury was deliberating. <\/p>\n

In a forum on the site called \u201cMain Street Cafe\u201d, which had 2483 members, Molloy made a post titled: \u201cThis is the Grace Mullane murderer [sic]\u201d.<\/p>\n

The court documents show Molloy wrote: \u201cHe got name suppression because he\u2019s also up on another independent rape charge \u2026 he needs a bullet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI put it here because this forum has the traffic and people need to know about this dog.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later the same evening, Kempson was found guilty<\/a> of murder.<\/p>\n

Molloy then made another post on the forum naming the recently convicted murderer. <\/p>\n

\u201cJesse Kempson was an employee of my sister\u2019s at her restaurant bar, Oyster & Chop, and he flatted with my niece for a short period before he was asked to leave due to his inappropriate behaviour,\u201d Molloy said.<\/p>\n

Findlay Biggs, counsel for a Complaints Assessments Committee of the Veterinary Council prosecuting Molloy at the tribunal, said Molloy had named Millane\u2019s murderer and the fact he was facing further sexual violence charges while the jury was deliberating. <\/p>\n

\"RestaurateurRestaurateur Leo Molloy was convicted, fined and ordered to complete community work for deliberately flouting a High Court suppression order. Photo \/ Dean Purcell<\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of a criminal trial, that\u2019s a very important and sensitive time to be revealing suppressed information,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt puts a trial at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Biggs said professionals were entitled to have a philosophical debate about name suppression but that debate needed to abide by the law. <\/p>\n

\u201cAll professionals, including vets, encounter private, sensitive, confidential information on a regular basis. That\u2019s a standard part of their job,\u201d Biggs said. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur professional obligations don\u2019t end when we close the office door.\u201d<\/p>\n

Biggs said professionals, such as vets, were held to a higher standard than other members of the public and Molloy\u2019s conviction cast doubt on the entire profession. <\/p>\n

\u201cA suppression order is a suppression order, regardless of how you feel about the content being suppressed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Biggs questioned whether Molloy truly understood the consequences of his actions and whether it appeared he still felt that what he did was morally right. <\/p>\n

The Judicial Committee ordered Molloy be censured and pay legal costs totalling $23,000. It will issue its full decision in writing at a later date. <\/p>\n

Jeremy Wilkinson is an Open Justice reporter based in Manawat\u016b, covering courts and justice issues with an interest in tribunals. He has been a journalist for nearly a decade and has worked for NZME since 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Now, Molloy, who was a veterinarian for decades before making the move to hospitality, is facing a Judicial…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":163974,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[107456,107459,51,4378,6120,3595,19956,27079,5205,1349,2082,5912,14235,26831,9089,21168,107457,107458,107455,111,43,139,69,29691,19719,2744,6791,15553,13618,1361,61,17307],"class_list":["post-163973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-23k","tag-altruistic","tag-auckland","tag-breach","tag-breaching","tag-by","tag-candidate","tag-censured","tag-council","tag-court","tag-for","tag-grace","tag-killer","tag-leo","tag-maintained","tag-mayoral","tag-millane","tag-millanes","tag-molloy","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-order","tag-ordered","tag-pay","tag-prominent","tag-restaurateur","tag-suppression","tag-that","tag-to","tag-vet"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163973\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}