Gerald Shirtcliff

Gerald Morton Shirtcliff (His surname is Shirtcliffe but it is often shortened to Shirtcliff.) was born in Wellington in 1945

Career

After leaving secondary school, Shirtcliff went to work for a bank in Wellington, and later an insurance company. According to The Press, his coworkers of that time have said that Shirtcliff had a tendency to lie. According to Niek Diedericks, a colleague at the time, Shirtcliff told him that he was avoiding the draft for the Vietnam War, despite New Zealand not having one. Shirtcliff later left the company, which according to Diedericks, was because Shirtcliff allegedly forged a signature on a cheque and cashed it in. In 1972 he applied to join the Australian Institute of Engineers He then returned to Australia and in March 2000 started working in Queensland as a registered engineer. After two weeks, a judge decided that the rest of the 20 months could be served in home detention at the New Brighton home of Phil Stanley and Sue Lyons, who let him live with them. During this time, he helped the couple with their Sydenham automotive repair business. Following the end of his sentence, Shirtcliff moved back to Brisbane in 2007. Stanley later accused Shirtcliff of stealing his diesel engine invention—which allowed for an engine to use a combination of diesel and LPG—and patenting it in Australia and the United States. which was building the CTV Building, the future headquarters of Canterbury Television, in Christchurch. He was the construction manager supervising the construction of the building, which was completed in 1987. In 1987, Shirtcliff and his colleagues resigned from Williams Construction and moved to Union Construction Ltd, founded by Shirtcliff, Michael Brooks and Tony Scott. Completion of the building was then transferred to Union Construction Ltd. According to Shirtcliff's superior, Michael Brooks, Shirtcliff was fired from the company after Brooks had left, but, "not for reasons of technical incompetence".

The building collapsed during the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, resulting in 115 deaths. leading to his first making headlines. but by 8 August he was participating in the inquiry through a video call.

Shirtcliff claimed, "I had only limited involvement in the CTV building... [and] ...I deny I was responsible for supervising construction of the CTV building". Commission lawyers accused Shirtcliff of claiming that he had lower responsibility in the building's construction than he actually had.

The Royal Commission concluded that, among other significant deficiencies in the building's construction, which included serious design flaws, Shirtcliff "did not spend sufficient time on the site to perform his role adequately." Ultimately, the police decided not to press charges against any of those involved, due to the insufficient weight of the evidence.

Fraud investigations Following the initial attention over Shirtcliff's refusal to give evidence at the inquiry, a tip was passed to The Press reporter Martin van Beynen, who investigated and uncovered the breadth of Shirtcliff's deception. Shirtcliff was also investigated by the New Zealand Police.

In June 2014, Shirtcliff pleaded guilty to 146 charges brought by the Queensland Board of Professional Engineers in Magistrates Court and was fined AU$500,000. The charges included making false or misleading statements and working as an unqualified engineer. He also had to pay AU$20,000 in professional costs.

Personal life Shirtcliff has spent most of his working life in Australia.

In 2012, Shirtcliff said that he had been living in Australia with the name "Fisher" due to "family issues" that had been ongoing for 40 years. He said it was due to abuse from his father, which his family has denied.