An All Blacks security guard has been found not guilty of making up claims he found a bugging device at the team's Sydney hotel a year ago.
Downing Centre Local Court Magistrate Jennifer Atkinson today said there was not enough evidence in the circumstantial case to convict Adrian Gard of making a false representation resulting in a police investigation in August last year.
Ms Atkinson did, however, find Gard guilty of a second charge of acting as a security consultant without the proper licence.
Gard, who has been acting as a security guard in Australia for the All Blacks for more than a decade, claimed to have found the listening device secreted in a chair in the team's meeting room at the InterContinental Hotel on August 15 last year.
The All Blacks waited for five days before calling in the police because they had hoped not to get the media involved.
However, this angered the Wallabies, who who felt the announcement was ill-timed and caused an unnecessary distraction.
Although the All Blacks never accused Australia or the Wallabies of any wrongdoing, the incident soured relations between the team following speculation on social media.
Earlier today, All Blacks captain Kieran Read, giving evidence on the phone from his room at the InterContinental Hotel in Double Bay, told the Downing Centre Local Court he believed security guard Adrian Gard was "honest and loyal".
Read said he and the New Zealand team respected "Gardy" for his professionalism and the great way he did his job without hurting the team's "brand".
Read told the court he had known Gard since 2009 and described him as a "pretty good man".
- additional reporting NZME