Ex All Black Guildford sentenced after ripping off his grandfather
Former All Black wing Zac Guildford has found himself on the wrong side of the law again. The 33-year-old, who represented the All Blacks 10 times between 2009 and 2012, was sentenced to nine months’ home detention for fraud charges on Friday.
According to stuff.co.nz, Guildford admitted to stealing NZ$41,500 from his grandfather via online banking in April last year and also defrauding one of his friends of NZ$60,000 in May.
Guildford reportedly did those acts to fuel a gambling habit.
On top of that, he was also sentenced on Friday for driving charges relating to an incident in August last year.
“What’s serious about this is it is offending against someone who’s vulnerable,” Judge Noel Sainsbury said. “It was a gross breach of trust and the impact of the offending will ripple through the family for a long time.”
Sainsbury added: “This was classic addiction driven offending.”
According to the report from stuff, at the sentencing, the former All Black’s uncle Darren Guildford said Zac was exposed to gambling and alcohol when he was a youngster and believes the death of Zac’s father also played a role in his behaviour.
In 2009, Guildford’s father Robert died within minutes of the final whistle being blown in the Baby Black’s victorious Under-20s World Championship Final against England, aged just 44.
Guildford, who starred in that match, has publicly attributed his troubles with addiction to his father’s death.
In 2011, Guildford was accused of staggering naked and bleeding into a bar and then assaulting two people.
In 2019, he pleaded guilty to an assault charge after punching a woman.
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Hi Nick. Thanks for your +++ ongoing analysis. Re Vunivalu, He’s been benched recently and it will be interesting to see what Kiss does with him as we enter the backend of SRP. I’m still not sold.
Go to commentsIn the fine tradition of Irish rugby, Leinster cheat well and for some reason only known to whoever referees them, they are allowed to get away with it every single game. If teams have not got the physicality up front to stop them getting the ball, they will win every single game. They take out players beyond the ruck and often hold them on the ground. Those that are beyond the ruck and therefore offside, hover there to cause distraction but also to join the next ruck from the side thereby stopping the jackal. The lineout prior to the second try on Saturday. 3 Leinster players left the lineout before the ball was thrown and were driving the maul as soon as the player hit the ground and thereby getting that valuable momentum. They scrummage illegally, with the looshead turning in to stop the opposing tighthead from pushing straight and making it uncomfortable for the hooker. The tighthead takes a step and tries to get his opposite loosehead to drop the bind. Flankers often ‘move up’ and actually bind on the prop and not remain bound to the second row. It does cause chaos and is done quickly and efficiently so that referees are blinded by the illegal tactics. I am surprised opposition coaches when they meet referees before games don’t mention it. I am also surprised that they do not go to the referees group and ask them to look at the tactics used and referee them properly. If they are the better team and win, fair play but a lot of their momentum is gained illegally and therefore it is not a level playing field.
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