A man jailed after abducting and molesting a five-year-old girl in a high profile Tauranga case has failed in an attempt to overturn his convictions.
Tony Douglas Robertson was 19 when he abducted the girl in December 2005, sparking a huge hunt after taking her to a remote area near Welcome Bay.
Robertson was jailed the following October for eight years after being found guilty of seven charges including sexually molesting her and attempting to abduct two other children.
Police believe a local officer, Sergeant Dave Thompson, who acted on gut instinct and hunted Robertson down, finding him and the girl with her underpants removed, saved her from a worse fate.
Robertson successfully applied for an extension to the time allowing him to appeal his conviction.
His lawyer argued a miscarriage of justice had taken place as the trial judge, Justice Patrick Keane, had failed to give the jury adequate direction in regard to the reliability of evidence given by the defendant.
He also raised questions about whether the jury could be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Robertson was guilty on all seven charges.
In a decision released today the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal on both counts.
During sentencing at the High Court in Auckland, Justice Keane said Robertson had shown no remorse and did not accept he was guilty, but suggested that denial may change if he reflected and was given some help.
Afterwards, Detective Peter Blackwell said police had scrambled to search for the girl after she was taken while walking to school with her brother, and if Mr Thompson had not found her so quickly she would probably have been killed.
