Anti-vaxxer confronts judge in court

A man found guilty of selling bleach as a cure for Covid-19 walked up to the bench where a District Court judge sat, waving documents around before announcing to the court his guilt was “enslavement”.

A team of security officers rushed Roger William Blake, who goes by the name of “living man Roger William”, as he walked up to, then leant over the bench of a Hamilton District courtroom where Judge Brett Crowley was sitting.

Blake, who walked past probation, media, and counsel to get to the bench – a high desk seated behind the registrar – waved documents in the judge’s face.

Judge Crowley repeatedly asked Blake to take a seat in the courtroom, but the requests were ignored until Blake was dragged into the dock by security.

This morning’s hearing was to enable Judge Crowley to determine sentencing options for Blake after finding him guilty of 29 charges at an earlier trial Blake didn’t turn up to.

The charges related to breaches laid by MedSafe under the Medicines Act, along with others of obstructing a Ministry of Health officer.

There were also charges of making a false statement about himself and his company possessing, advertising and selling products dubbed “MMS”, or Miracle Mineral Solution; essentially chlorine dioxide – bleach – mixed with water.

MMS products were originally funded by American Jim Humble, who founded the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing

According to Blake, he was appointed a bishop of the Genesis Church in 2015 after discussions between Blake and Humble suggested customers would find his religious title “reassuring”.

Humble and his three sons were recently given lengthy prison terms for selling the products which they claimed could remove Covid-19 from the body if ingested in “appropriate doses”.

After Judge Crowley took the time to read the document, Blake said he was in the “meeting house” by “special appearance” and then dismissed his case and stated the charges should be “dispunged immediately”.

“It’s not within your power to dismiss the matter, Mr Blake,” Judge Crowley replied.

“I have no contract with this private corporation and to do anything otherwise is enslavement,” Blake responded.

He continued to refuse to identify as Roger Blake and asked that the case be dismissed.

“Can you confirm I am your property?” he continued, now from the dock and surrounded by three security officers.

“It’s not a question I am required to answer,” Judge Crowley replied.

Blake continued to talk over the judge as he claimed it was “unlawful to hold a living man without his consent”.

“Is there a bailiff in this court?” Blake asked.

“I require you to arrest this man. He is clearly acting in fraud, he is now engaging in enslavement … is there no bailiff in this court?” he said, as he looked around the near-empty courtroom.

‘People say the Earth is round but it doesn’t make it factual’

Blake’s defence has evolved over time.

Initially, he submitted that he sold the MMS website offshore and had no control over it, then that the chemicals were “food” so they couldn’t be described as a “medicine”, and once proceedings made it to court he claimed that Roger Blake was dead, and even produced a mock death certificate.

At that stage, he was simply appearing as the representative “of the entity formerly known as Roger Blake”.

As Judge Crowley began talking of finding him guilty, Blake interrupted, again.

“You know as well as I do that Mr Blake is a fiction … some people would say that the Earth is round but it doesn’t make it factual,” he asserted.

“I am not Mr Blake.”

Judge Crowley replied, “You are standing before me Mr Blake, claiming you are not Mr Blake … I acknowledge the legal nonsense that entails.”

The issue then came to bail; Judge Crowley granted Blake bail with the sole condition that he report to Corrections to set a date for a pre-sentence report interview.

“I’m not going to sign a bail form. I haven’t been charged with anything,” Blake said.

He ultimately refused to sign the form and was remanded in the cells for more than four hours, before being recalled at 2pm.

On his return to the courtroom, Blake reiterated his refusal to sign the bail form and was remanded in custody again, this time until Friday, when Judge Crowley will give him another opportunity to sign for his freedom.