Hooton on Peters

Matthew Hooton joins the blogosphere, and uses his first blog to respond to the attack on him by Peter Williams. It is a hilarious post as Matthew damns with his praise:

It was my grandfather, the legendary Auckland criminal defence lawyer George Skelton, who gave Peter his first serious job in the law.   He taught Peter to be a staunch advocate for his clients, no matter how serious the charges they faced.  Years later, I made use of this family connection to ask Peter to address the Auckland Young Nationals, in which I was involved as a student.  He spoke movingly and, in my view, correctly of the right of even the most heinous alleged criminal to have the very best defence against the prosecutorial powers of the State, and he spoke of the power of love to achieve rehabilitation, forgiveness and renewal.

The most heinous alleged criminal.  Hmmn.

My grandfather would be proud of how well his understudy has done in the criminal law.  No one is a stronger advocate for those up on the most serious offences of murder or rape, who may otherwise have no one else standing in their corner.  If I am ever up on a serious criminal charge, I will call Peter.

If I am ever up on a serious criminal charge. More hmmn.

Worryingly for Peters, Peter, for all his vast experience in the criminal law, does not seem even to understand basic elements of electoral law.

Vast experience in criminal law.

Unfortunately, Peter appears not to understand all this, which is why he launched his extraordinary attack on me, and why he behaved so bizarrely in front of the Privileges Committee this morning.  Perhaps, Peter’s incompetence in this area of the law, notwithstanding his excellence in the criminal law, is why Winston Peters thinks he is the wronged party.  Perhaps Peter is giving incorrect advice to his client about these all-important matters.  My grandfather would be disappointed.

And again praise for his excellence in criminal law.

I just can’t stop laughing every time I read it.