The All Black who slapped his wife

An All Black slapped his wife last month and was charged with assault. His wife called the police and made a statement when they arrived at the family home. The next morning she told police she did not want the case pursued - in other words, she wanted charges dropped.

But police refused to drop charges. Instead they wanted a conviction. They got a guilty plea, but he was discharged without conviction as the assault was minor and had name suppression lifted. Actually chiefs winger Sitiveni Sivivatu was discharged without conviction because he is a rugby player.

However, given that his wife dropped charges, he may have not even been before the courts. If a factor in police pursuing a conviction was because he is a high profile rugby player there is no reason why he shouldn't get off for the same reason.