Barry Young reappears in court
A former Health New Zealand employee accused of leaking Covid-19 vaccine data has appeared in court today ahead of his jury trial.
At least 12,000 people had personal information released as part of the 2023 leak.
Barry Young pleaded not guilty in December to a charge of accessing computer systems for a dishonest purpose.
About 20 supporters waited for him outside Wellington District Court this morning.
They held signs thanking the 56-year-old IT worker for his alleged actions, which they described as whistleblowing.
Young stopped and spoke with them ahead of his procedural hearing.
He was remanded on bail until his next hearing in April.
In a separate case involving Ministry of Health information, the ministry said yesterday a staff member it claims leaked information to the media was no longer employed by the ministry.
RNZ last month reported on a ministry document which showed the Associate Health Minister Casey Costello had requested advice on freezing the annual increase in tobacco tax.
That was despite Costello saying she had not sought advice on that.
In a statement, Director-General of Health Diana Sarfati – who heads the ministry – said the individual responsible for the leak had been identified after an investigation and was no longer working at the ministry.
