Arrested for possessing child pornography, wealthy New Zealand businessman in his 80s voluntarily gives up his knighthood

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s office said today that disgraced tycoon Ron Brierley has renounced his knighthood after he confessed to possessing child pornography.

Brierley, an 80-year-old man who lives in Sydney, pleaded guilty to possessing child molestation images after Ardern was set to revoke his knighthood last month.

But Alden’s office said that Blairley wrote to Queen Elizabeth II on his own, asking her to revoke his knighthood.

“Brierley may no longer be able to use the title ‘Sir’ and he has been asked to return the medal,” the spokesman said.

Blairley, 83, was arrested at Sydney Airport in December 2019 after police found a large number of child pornography images in Blairley’s pen drive and hard drive when they checked his luggage.

Brierley was a feared corporate sniper in the 1980s, rocketing his Brierley Investments to become New Zealand’s largest publicly traded company, and was knighted in 1988 for his contributions to business management.