Woman woken by 'naked' Richard Worth - report

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Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:00a.m. UPDATED: 8:10PM

Richard Worth

Richard Worth

The Korean businesswoman who laid a complaint against former MP and government minister Richard Worth has dropped the matter and the police have decided not to take a case against him, it was reported tonight.

The scandal involving the Korean woman, and another incident involving a woman member of the Labour Party, forced Dr Worth to resign as a minister on June 2 and 10 days later he quit Parliament.

It was confirmed that the Korean woman had laid a complaint of a sexual nature and the police opened an inquiry.

It was reported Dr Worth, who at the time was minister of internal affairs, invited the woman to a function in Wellington, booked a room at a hotel for her, and accompanied her to the hotel.

It was reported that an incident in the hotel that night led to the woman's complaint.

3 News today was informed by a source close to the Korean woman that she had dropped her complaint.

She feels the political fallout around Richard Worth has been sufficient, and going through the courts would have been an additional ordeal that would have gained little.

It also reported police had told the woman there was not enough evidence to take a case against Dr Worth, and that was another reason why she was dropping her complaint.

The woman sent an email to Prime Minister John Key giving her account of what happened at the hotel. It talks about how they were drinking wine, she was tired and went to bed, and was woken by a naked Richard Worth.

It goes on to detail what happened after that.

The police would not confirm to NZPA that the woman had dropped her complaint, or that the investigation had been closed.

Dr Worth's cellphone had a recorded message on it saying the number was no longer being used.

The Korean woman was never identified by the media.

The other incident, which was not connected, involved a woman member of the Labour Party.

She told Labour leader Phil Goff that Dr Worth harassed her with dozens of text messages and phone calls, some of them vulgar, and offered her a job in his capacity as a minister.

Throughout it all, Dr Worth insisted he had broken no law.

He said he had no choice but to resign from Parliament because of the "avalanche of rumour and innuendo" surrounding him.

Dr Worth resigned as a minister after Mr Key told him he had lost confidence in him.

Mr Key has never disclosed details of exactly why he lost confidence in Dr Worth, despite close questioning in Parliament, and has only said the former MP's behaviour did not meet the standards he required from his ministers.

Before the events involving the women, Dr Worth was in trouble over conflict of interest.

He made a private visit to India, where he promoted a company in which he had an interest.

He also used his diplomatic passport for a private trip, which was against the rules.

NZPA / 3 News

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Comments

10 Jul 2009 04:53p.m.

Michelle Nickie wrote:

..don’t know many women who would think a hot date would be waking up to find an ageing colleague standing naked at the foot of the bed... (where were her keys/room security card? How come he had them? )
..only a male mind that would think that this approach would work.. case & point: when was the last time you heard of Jenny Shipley getting her kit off and wandering round some young thing’s bedroom late at night in the hopes of getting lucky? http://tiny.cc/pUUYd

03 Jul 2009 10:54a.m.

cherie wrote:

Yes and when I go away on work stuff I get the boss into my hotel room get pissed and then go to bed leaving him there?

Truley the police wouold not be dropping this if they thought they had eveidence that something was amiss.
It is a bit like that young slapper going back with several players to their room isn't it? What did she think she was going there for a game of tennis?
Its about time woman took responsibility for thier own saftey and actions.

03 Jul 2009 10:00a.m.

Alien wrote:

personally i believe this is just another labour set up, as the police have said there is no evidence, and any woman or male who has had this done to them would not drop the charges. The media need to report that this woman is also a labour snake and that she has done this before.

03 Jul 2009 07:09a.m.

Glenn wrote:

The fact that the woman is now suddenly dropping the matter makes me wonder if it is at all true, stinks of a scandal.

02 Jul 2009 08:46p.m.

Jenny wrote:

Hang on. As much as I believe that people who do bad things should always get their due, in this case, if the above info & previous articles are correct & if they were drinking wine together in a hotel room, why did she go to bed & let him stay in the room? If she was tired & wanted to sleep, why didn't she ask him to leave? Is there a chance he got mixed messages? If we only ever hear half a story, or read a story that is slanted, we will never know what was true.

02 Jul 2009 07:08p.m.

Guy wrote:

Maybe Richard Worth should have thought about that before he spread his pasty white flab all over the hotel room...

02 Jul 2009 06:38p.m.

Liz wrote:

So a woman is able to make allegations, cause a man to lose his job and have his name and reputation spread all over the news, and we the public are still not allowed to know who she is?

Is this right?