Mel Cairns has appeared by videolink from Canberra to give evidence for her husband Chris in a London court, saying she’d rather be there.
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Ms Cairns was asked about an interview she did with a women’s magazine in which a three-month trip to Europe with Cairns in June 2008 was likened to “a honeymoon for us”.
“It broke my heart to watch Chris walk every day, alone to and from court, and knowing he was going home alone by himself”, she said.
So she jabbed and probed, while Cairns gave long-winded replies – after 15 minutes Mr Justice Sweeney reminded him he was there to answer questions, not to make speeches.
“I’m sure it was seen as being my fault”, she said of the marriage split.
Vincent, his ex-wife Ellie Riley, New Zealand captain McCullum, Andre Adams, Shane Bond, Daniel Vettori, Kyle Mills, club cricketer Stephen Pearson, South African Andrew Hall and Englishman Phill Hayes have given evidence to a few degree linking Cairns to alleged match-fixing.
Mel Cairns, the wife of former New Zealand allrounder Chris Cairns, has denied that an alleged discussion about match-fixing in a Manchester bar ever took place.
Cairns accepted Vijay Dimon paid for the flights of Cairns, Daryl Tuffey and Lou Vincent for a holiday in Dubai. Wass said nine, Cairns three.
Ms Riley said Vincent and Cairns were fixing games in the Indian Cricket League and she was anxious they were going to get caught, but that Cairns reassured her “everyone was doing it in India”. They subsequently lived together in Dubai, where Cairns has said he was looking to get involved in the diamond trade.
“He was very confident about that”.
Ms Cairns’ evidence ended with two questions from the defence.
“If I found out (about match fixing) in the first week of our relationship I absolutely would not have had a relationship with him”, she said.
He queried how she would have reacted, given the early stage of their relationship, if match-fixing had been discussed.
Mrs Cairns works with professional athletes in sports marketing and management and was awarded a scholarship to play basketball at a top United States university.
The prosecutor then moved on to Brendon McCullum’s evidence, whom she suggested Cairns tried to recruit after realising Vincent was liability in his match-fixing ring.
Under cross-examination by the prosecution, Sasha Wass QC asked Ms Cairns if Ms Riley had any reason to lie about her husband.
Chris and Mel Cairns at the Halberg Awards in 2014.
Cairns pointed out he won the libel case against Modi, following the tweet which he described as a “death sentence” in the world of cricket. “I think I was referring more to new love, new relationship, something fun like that”.
Cairns replied that his own barrister, Orlando Pownall QC, would provide the explanation, but he added that, with regard to McCullum, “Brendon has done what is best for Brendon”.
Asked whether this was to “fiddle” his tax affairs, Cairns agreed.
When asked whether more than one player was required to fix a game, Cairns said he didn’t know.
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Under cross-examination Ms Wass put it to Ms Cairns that she “never really taxed (Cairns) on how much he was paid”.
