Barry Young leaves the Wellington District Court. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
A crowd of about two dozen have waited outside Wellington District Court morning in support of a former Health New Zealand - Te Whatu Ora employee accused of leaking Covid-19 vaccine data.
Barry Young pleaded not guilty in December to a charge of accessing computer systems for a dishonest purpose. He appeared in court on Friday morning ahead of his jury trial.
The crowd held signs thanking the 56-year-old IT worker for his alleged actions, which they described as "whistleblowing". Young stopped and spoke to them before entering the court for his brief procedural hearing.
He appeared before a packed public gallery, in front of Judge Tania Warburton.
Defence lawyer Kevin Preston told the court police had not provided the defence with the information required in time for the hearing, although he noted a USB was delivered to his office on Tuesday afternoon.
"It's encrypted and I can't access it," he said.
Young was bailed until his next hearing in April. A trial date is yet to be set.
He said "freedom" as he exited the courtroom, once again spoke to his supporters and blew into a whistle.
Health New Zealand last week revealed at least 12,000 people had their personal information posted in a downloadable file on a United States website.
It had begun notifying the individuals whose data had been published, but said information about other people may come to light.
