NZ bouncer convicted of stealing Tindall video

WELLINGTON (AFP) –

MIke Tindall (right) with his wife Zara Phillips and the Queen at Ascot last October. A New Zealand bouncer who leaked CCTV footage of former England centre Tindall’s drunken antics during the 2011 Rugby World Cup was convicted Thursday of stealing the video.

A New Zealand bouncer who leaked CCTV footage of former England centre Mike Tindall’s drunken antics during the 2011 Rugby World Cup was convicted Thursday of stealing the video.

The grainy images of Tindall flirting with an old flame just weeks after marrying Zara Phillips, Queen Elizabeth II’s granddaughter, created global headlines and were blamed for derailing England’s World Cup campaign.

A jury in the Invercargill District Court found Jonathan Dixon, a bouncer who worked at the nightclub where Tindall had been drinking, dishonestly obtained property by accessing the venue’s computer system.

Prosecutors said Dixon had hoped to sell the footage to the British tabloid newspapers for up to 1.3 million pounds ($2.0 million) but posted it on the Internet when the plan failed.

He will be sentenced in June.

Tindall never played for England again after the 2011 tournament and he later complained he was made a “scapegoat” for the team’s woeful performance, which was marred by other off-field incidents and saw them exit in the quarter-finals.