Cairns pleads not guilty to perjury

Former New Zealand cricket player Chris Cairns has pleaded not guilty to perjury. Cairns, who fought and won a libel case against former IPL chairman Lalit Modi in March 2012, denied lying in the match-fixing libel action and said he never cheated in cricket and never contemplated of doing such a thing.

Cairns appeared for the hearing at the Old Bailey for submitting a not guilty plea in perverting the course of justice by inducing former cricketer Lou Vincent to provide a false witness statement. Alongside Cairns was Andrew Fitch-Holland, a barrister who appeared as a witness for Cairns during the High Court proceedings against Modi and who is accused of asking Vincent to provide a false statement.

Fitch-Holland pleaded not guilty to one count of perverting the course of justice. Justice Sweeny adjourned the case for a pre-trial hearing on a date to be fixed in July ahead of a four-week trial fixed to take place in Southwark Crown Court on October 5. Both have been granted unconditional bail.

The first charge against Cairns by the court had read, "Christopher Lance Cairns, between 1st October 2010 and the 31st of March 2012, having been lawfully sworn as a witness in a judicial proceeding, namely the trial of a libel action in the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice in England in which one Chris Lance Cairns was claimant and one Lalit Modi was defendant, you unlawfully made a statement material in that proceeding which you knew to be false that he had never, ever cheated at cricket and nor would he ever contemplate such a thing."

In a report on ESPNcricinfo, Cairns maintained his innocence and denied any involvement in match-fixing. When asked about the fact that he was to be put on trial by the Crown Prosecution Service, Cairns said, "I'm obviously extremely disappointed, however, at least there will now be an opportunity to face my accusers in an open forum, with some rigour and proper process around that, so that I can clear my name once and for all."