Lawyer's prison smuggling 'enormously damaging'

A lawyer who smuggled contraband to convicted murderer and rapist Liam Reid has been found to have brought the legal profession into disrepute, a tribunal has found.

Davina Murray was convicted and sentenced to 50 hours' community work in October 2013 and removed from the Law Society's register after being found guilty of smuggling an iPhone, cigarettes and a lighter to Reid at Mt Eden Prison.

She appealed against her conviction and sentence, but it was dismissed.

A recently released decision by the Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal said the publicity around Murray's case "has without doubt been enormously damaging to the criminal defence bar in particular and to the profession in general".

A penalty hearing has been set for February 26.