The Star: May 12, 2022
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<strong>The</strong> <strong>Star</strong> Thursday <strong>May</strong> <strong>12</strong> <strong>2022</strong><br />
6<br />
NEWS<br />
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz<br />
Rugby star says ADHD diagnosis brings<br />
• By Katie Harris<br />
FORMER ALL Black and<br />
Crusader Zac Guildford has<br />
been charged with breaching<br />
intensive supervision earlier this<br />
year before he was sentenced for<br />
stealing from his grandfather.<br />
<strong>The</strong> latest charge related to him<br />
allegedly breaching the orders by<br />
consuming alcohol in February.<br />
Guildford had been serving a<br />
sentence of two years of intensive<br />
supervision after being convicted<br />
of punching a woman in December<br />
2019.<br />
Guildford is back living and<br />
working in Christchurch and is<br />
due to appear in the district court<br />
later this month.<br />
He allegedly broke the orders<br />
prior to being sentenced on separate<br />
charges for stealing more<br />
than $40,000 from his grandfather<br />
and deceiving a friend out of<br />
$60,000.<br />
In an interview with the NZ<br />
Herald in March, Guildford<br />
admitted things were spiralling<br />
before his sentencing on those<br />
charges and he was slipping back<br />
into addictive tendencies. His<br />
relationships were “falling to<br />
pieces”.<br />
Since being sentenced the<br />
former sports star has apologised<br />
for his offending and made a new<br />
start in Christchurch with a job<br />
at a construction company.<br />
RELIEF: Zac Guildford says of his ADHD diagnosis “that’s when the questions started to<br />
make sense around how my life played out”. PHOTO: GEORGE HEARD/NZ HERALD<br />
Guildford said at the time he<br />
had built up a strong support<br />
system in Christchurch.<br />
In February, Guildford moved<br />
to Upper Riccarton from the<br />
Wairarapa to start a new job with<br />
a construction industry company<br />
and to make a clean break. An<br />
introduction was organised via<br />
his probation worker and he also<br />
lives with his bosses, who have<br />
taken in convicted criminals in<br />
the past.<br />
When approached by the<br />
Herald this week his employer<br />
said any breach would have been<br />
prior to him working and living<br />
with them. As well as before his<br />
ADHD diagnosis.<br />
“He has been working really<br />
hard and is very positive about<br />
his future, he has joined many<br />
online ADHD support groups<br />
and we have also managed to put<br />
together a group of ADHD adults<br />
who will be having the support<br />
group meetings at our house as<br />
Zac can’t leave to go to them,” the<br />
employer said.<br />
<strong>The</strong> 33-year-old had been living<br />
with his 77-year-old grandfather,<br />
Frank Burt, in the Wairarapa<br />
when he transferred a total of<br />
$41,400 from his grandfather’s<br />
iPad to his own account between<br />
March 30 and April 9, 2021, to<br />
fuel his gambling addiction.<br />
In the interview with the<br />
Herald in March, Guildford said<br />
he first took money out of “pure<br />
addiction”, boredom, and the<br />
idea he could get out of the hole<br />
he was in if he just “took a little<br />
bit, then put some back”.<br />
“It didn’t work that way, as I<br />
found out the hard way – and<br />
most addicts will know it’s not<br />
just a little bit.”<br />
Prior to the offending, the pair<br />
had a close relationship, doing<br />
everything together including<br />
buying and breeding horses.<br />
Breaking his trust was “heartbreaking”,<br />
Guildford said. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
haven’t spoken since, but he is<br />
hoping to soon iron things out.<br />
His construction boss in<br />
Christchurch boss asked him to<br />
get tested for a neurodevelopmental<br />
condition, attention deficit<br />
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD),<br />
and his diagnosis was confirmed<br />
days before sentencing.<br />
“That’s when the questions<br />
started to make sense around<br />
how my life played out, and why<br />
some of the mistakes I made<br />
were not because I was a horrible<br />
person but because of some of the<br />
impulses I have toward things.”<br />
ADHD can cause hyperactive<br />
and impulsive behaviour, as well<br />
as attention difficulties.<br />
While Guildford said his<br />
diagnosis isn’t “an excuse” for his<br />
actions, he believes if he had been<br />
diagnosed earlier, his life could<br />
have been different.<br />
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