4 Dec 2023

Barry Young, accused of stealing Te Whatu Ora Covid-19 data, denied bail

2:58 pm on 4 December 2023
Barry Young, 56, in Wellington District Court on Monday morning.

Barry Young. Photo: RNZ / Ruth Hill

The man accused of stealing Te Whatu Ora Covid-19 data and using it to spread disinformation will stay behind bars after he was denied bail.

Barry Young, 56, appeared in the Wellington District Court, charged with accessing a computer system for dishonest purposes.

Te Whatu Ora says an employee - who has no clinical background - downloaded data, which was published on an overseas website and did an interview alleging a cover-up of vaccine-related deaths.

Young's case was pushed back to Monday afternoon.

Young would be released automatically at 1pm on Tuesday afternoon.