A Dunedin man says he is living in fear after a Family Court privacy breach resulted in his address being sent to his brother, who had allegedly threatened to kill him.
The Family Court has apologised for the error.
Earlier this year, the man's brother was convicted of criminal damage after smashing thousands of dollars worth of equipment in the man's flat and urinating on his bed.
The man's brother was sentenced to 200 hours' community work and nine months' supervision, with a requirement to undergo a domestic violence programme and a substance abuse assessment and any follow-up.
The man, who cannot be identified, took out a protection order, from which he asked the Family Court to remove his address, following alleged threats his brother would kill him.
''I had my anonymity and that was the best protection I had against my brother,'' the victim told the Otago Daily Times this week.
He said his peace of mind was shattered two weeks ago after discovering his new address was sent to his brother, who had applied for a protection order against him.
That was based on a Facebook post about his brother being spotted driving a BMW and not having ''paid a cent'' of the $6700 in reparations ordered by the court, he said.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman yesterday confirmed the ''human error'' was discovered only when the man contacted the Dunedin District Court.
''We have apologised to the man for this mistake.''
Senior officials, including the Family Court services manager, met the man to apologise and ''explained the steps taken to address his concerns''.
The man told the ODT he believed his visitors were ''less interested in fixing the problem than they are in protecting their employee'', adding he had been asked to do a course on being safe.
''I said to them I was safe before you gave my address to my brother. Being anonymous is the best safety possible.
They have wrecked my anonymity. He knows where I live and I have to either shift or get some sort of security system ... neither of which they are going to help with.''
A Justice Ministry spokesman, when asked what had been done to remedy the man's situation, said the Family Court Services manager ''apologised unreservedly for this breach and we have taken a number of steps to address the man's concerns''.
That included contacting local police.
The Dunedin Family Court had also changed its processes for documents containing confidential addresses.
The breach was also notified to the ministry's privacy unit in Wellington.
The spokesman was not aware of any other breaches involving the Dunedin Family Court during the past seven years.
Privacy breaches were ''not common and they are all treated seriously''.
Family Court staff in Dunedin would undergo further privacy training.
''The learning from this incident will be shared with court staff throughout New Zealand.''
That was little comfort for the man.
''They are looking like they are doing something, but they haven't rectified the actual problem they have caused,'' he said.
''When the Government has allowed the sale of legal highs, the justice system has failed to enforce its sentences, and the Family Court mails the addresses of victims to criminals ... where do we go for justice? Batman?''
