The court heard that High Court judges had at least twice ordered Tamaki, Destiny Church and the other church member defendants to share their internal messages for the appropriate period.<\/p>\n
The \u201csmoking gun\u201d, Griggs said, was evidence before the court showing that Tamaki and other defendants were part of a Facebook Messenger group chat where the church leader had shared an ad for the drag queens\u2019 Gisborne \u201cLiving Library\u201d show.<\/p>\n
Neither Tamaki, the church nor its trustees had provided any record of this group chat, the court heard.<\/p>\n
Unless the defendants disclosed their \u201cintra-party\u201d communications, which Griggs said \u201cwe know\u201d occurred through Facebook messenger, then it was impossible for his clients to have a fair trial, if it came to that.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, he said Tamaki admitted publishing a press release in March 2024 saying that the library events were \u201cgrooming\u201d kids and promising to take action to shut them down.<\/p>\n
It was \u201cinherently implausible\u201d that the church\u2019s \u201cmobilisation\u201d could have been done without \u201ca single\u201d Facebook message, he said.<\/p>\n
Two other defendants, two lost phones<\/p>\n
His second accusation was that another two of the now seven defendants, church members Leighton Packer and Terangimarie Ngahuka, were lying to the court by saying the phones they were using at the time of the alleged defamation were broken or lost.<\/p>\n
The court heard both Packer and Ngahuka initially told the court via affidavits that the phones they were using at the time were broken and unusable.<\/p>\n
Then, in later affidavits, the women said they were mistaken, and had lost their phones when they both, separately, moved house.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat strains credibility beyond breaking point,\u201d Griggs commented.<\/p>\n
Griggs noted that the first time the women were asked to provide \u201cdiscovery\u201d to the court, they submitted only one document: a copy of the King James Bible.<\/p>\n
However, Umar Kuddus, representing the two church members, said Griggs referring to the women\u2019s lost phones account as \u201cfalse\u201d was improper, unethical and an \u201cunproved allegation of perjury\u201d.<\/p>\n
Daniel Lockett as Erika Flash (left) and Sunita Torrance as Coco with Hastings district councillor Wendy Schollum at a Rainbow Storytime event in Hastings. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
Tamaki and Destiny Church lawyer Scott McColgan explained that the controversial church leader had only one relevant electronic device at the time, his iPhone, and had followed court orders by searching the phone for the appropriate \u201ckey words\u201d.<\/p>\n
The \u201ckey words\u201d were set out by McColgan himself, but the lawyer said he had no idea why phone searches by Tamaki and his trustees didn\u2019t pull up the group chat.<\/p>\n
McColgan said his clients hadn\u2019t \u201cwilfully failed to comply\u201d but rather done their best to follow the court\u2019s order.<\/p>\n
Now that his clients understood what specifically was being asked of them, McColgan said they could \u201cdrill down\u201d into why the right documents weren\u2019t found as opposed to the court going the \u201cextreme step\u201d of striking out the defence.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are God-fearing Christian people, so when they put their hand on the Bible, there should be some recognition of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sunita Torrance with lawyer Chris Griggs at the High Court in Auckland in 2024. Photo \/ Sylvie Whinray<\/p>\n
Kuddus said the drag performers and Griggs had converted their suspicions about his clients\u2019 \u201cinconsistencies\u201d into the idea that a fair trial was not possible.<\/p>\n
He said Griggs had expected more messages to exist showing the church\u2019s \u201cmobilisation\u201d against the drag queens and wrongly assumed that Packer and Ngahuka must have destroyed their phones.<\/p>\n
\u201cExpectation is not clear evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
His junior lawyer, Nicholas Johnson, said both women had made concerted efforts to retrieve the phone\u2019s data.<\/p>\n
Their perceived \u201cinconsistencies\u201d, Johnson said, could be explored at trial, where a fair hearing was still possible, and didn\u2019t require the \u201cextreme response\u201d of dismissing the case.<\/p>\n
Throughout the hearing, Justice Liz Gellert reminded the lawyers that Facebook Messenger could be accessed from multiple devices.<\/p>\n
She said she had an inkling that at least Griggs and McColgan would be able to come to some sort of agreement regarding phone searches, and reserved her decision.<\/p>\n
\u2018Sick pedo leave the children alone\u2019<\/p>\n
Court documents show that another defendant in this case, church member Hohepa Haeata, elected not to give a defence, and was found to have defamed the drag queens.<\/p>\n
Justice David Johnstone\u2019s November judgment said Torrance made a Facebook post in March 2024 explaining why Rainbow Storytime wasn\u2019t inappropriate for children.<\/p>\n
An account in Haeata\u2019s name left the comment \u201cSick pedo leave the children alone you wierdos (sic)\u201d and on a Rotorua Library post about the event he commented \u201cWe will shut this sick event down you pedos\u201d, the judgment said.<\/p>\n
In another comments section, Haeata called Torrance a \u201cdemon\u201d.<\/p>\n
Justice Johnstone said the comments were \u201cobviously\u201d defamatory because they would lower the drag queens\u2019 perception as \u201cright-thinking members of society\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe accusation of paedophilia is intrinsically a grave and [where inaccurate] cruel allegation,\u201d his judgment said.<\/p>\n
He ordered the man to pay a total of $40,000 in damages to Haus of Flash, Torrance and Lockett.<\/p>\n
Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki leads a march down Queen St in central Auckland, in July 2025. Photo \/ Alex Burton.<\/p>\n
After its anti-Covid-19-vaccine<\/a> and anti-LGBTQIA+ protests, Destiny Church is no stranger to the court.<\/p>\n Tamaki\u2019s grandson-in-law, Ford O\u2019Connor, pleaded guilty to vandalising the Karangahape Rd rainbow crossing<\/a> in 2024.<\/p>\n A crowd made up of the church\u2019s Man Up and Legacy groups stormed a drag library event in West Auckland in February 2025.<\/p>\n Some of the about 30 toddlers, young children and adults<\/a> at the event said they had to be barricaded inside the library room to avoid the Destiny protesters.<\/p>\n And an Upper Hutt drag king story time was cancelled in 2024 after opposition from Destiny Church<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ella Scott-Fleming has been a journalist for three years and previously worked at the Otago Daily Times, Gore Ensign and Metro Magazine. She has an interest in court and general reporting. She\u2019s currently based in Auckland covering justice related stories.<\/p>\n