Chris Cairns’s defence has closed its case after three days of evidence at his perjury trial in London. Cairns was the central witness in his own defence, giving evidence over two days, during which he faced a combative cross examination at Southwark crown court.
The former cricketer’s lawyers formally concluded their case on Friday morning, making way for the defence team of Cairns’s co-defendant, Andrew Fitch-Holland.
During his first day in the witness box on Tuesday, Cairns broke down in tears as he spoke about his family in Australia. The following day he struggled through tough questions from the prosecution, failing to give direct answers as to why those claiming he had match-fixed would make up lies about him. He was also reprimanded by the trial judge, who told Cairns his job was “not to give a speech, but to answer the question”.
Cairns’ Australian wife, Mel Cairns, was among several other defence witnesses, including one of Cairns’ former coaches from New Zealand, and the British lawyer who acted for him during his 2012 libel trial against Lalit Modi.
Appearing via video link from Canberra on Thursday, Cairns’ wife denied she had heard her husband discussing match-fixing. When accused of lying for her husband both at the current trial and in the libel case, Ms Cairns said “absolutely not”. “I would never lie to help my husband, especially in a court of law,” she said.
Fitch-Holland, a barrister and a friend of Cairns, began his turn in the witness box on Friday. The early part of his defence was spent attempting to dispel the Crown’s description of him as a “cricket groupie” by demonstrating a deeper friendship with Cairns. He detailed difficult times the families had been through together to illustrate the friendship beyond sport.
“Was I star struck at first, of course I was,” Fitch-Holland told the court, but he also noted a “much more human connection” that grew between them. “I’m a father, he’s a father, I may not be a cricketer but, at the end of the day, we’re blokes with kids.”
Another former New Zealand cricketer, Chris Harris, previously gave evidence about an occasion at an exhibition match in 2010 when Fitch-Holland came up to him and a group of others. Harris said someone asked what was going on with Cairns with regards to match-fixing rumours.
“Mr Fitch-Holland replied, to my surprise, ‘Oh, he’s guilty, Cairnsy’s guilty’,” Harris told the court. However, on Friday Fitch-Holland disputed that, telling the court he was drunk at the time and did not remember the conversation.
“I would have said .... ‘the only thing Chris Cairns is guilty of is not keeping his trousers zipped up’,” Fitch-Holland said, referring to Cairns’ affair and marriage breakup.
Fitch-Holland said he had asked Cairns when the rumours surfaced whether they were true. “I told him, ‘The only way I can help you is if you tell me what actually happened’. He said, ‘It’s all just pub talk and bullshit’, and I was satisfied.”
Fitch-Holland also described the moment he first learned of the IPL founder Lalit Modi’s Twitter post that said Cairns had been involved in match-fixing.
“My mobile phone rang and it was Chris, freaking out, saying, ‘You won’t believe this, Modi’s f***ed me. I’m done, He’s tweeted I’m involved in match-fixing’.”
The Crown’s key evidence against Fitch-Holland is a recording of a Skype conversation between him and Vincent, in which he asked Cairns’ former team-mate to provide a statement for the libel case. In the conversation, recorded by Vincent, Vincent is heard saying: “It’s a big ask from me to in a legal document to say something that isn’t true.”
However, Fitch-Holland told the court he had not asked Vincent to lie. “At the time of the Skype call, I had no idea that Lou Vincent had ever been involved in match-fixing or spot-fixing. I had no reason to believe he was anything other than an honest, decent chap,” Fitch-Holland said.
“At the time of the Skype call, I had no reason, nor do I now, to believe that Chris Cairns had been involved in match-fixing or spot-fixing.”
Fitch-Holland will return to the witness box for cross examination when the trial resumes on Monday. Cairns faces a charge of perjury, and faces a joint charge with Fitch-Holland of perverting the course of justice by trying to get another former New Zealand cricketer, Vincent, to provide a false statement.