![Anti-vaccination campaigner Chris Savage says an assault charge he faces is the result of "helping a vaccine injured person [who] turned against me". Photo: Supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-feed-data/d854e259-8bab-48fb-a739-d7970b3d5dbb.jpg/r0_0_727_410_w576_h298_fmax.webp "Anti-vaccination campaigner Chris Savage says an assault charge he faces is the result of \"helping a vaccine injured person [who] turned against me\". Photo: Supplied")
An anti-vaccination campaigner accused of assaulting a man with a needle has been offering to sell "ancient magnesium oil" to fund his defence against the charge.
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Australian Chris Savage was arrested at Auckland International Airport last week, allegedly trying to leave the country.
Police spent several weeks looking for Mr Savage after he failed to appear in Hastings District Court to face a charge of assaulting a 46-year-old Hawke's Bay diabetes and coeliac disease sufferer by injecting him with magnesium.
The alleged victim was hospitalised in April following the injection treatment, prompting the Hawke's Bay District Health Board to issue a warning that the public should not follow medical or treatment advice from Mr Savage, who is not a registered medical practitioner.
Following his arrest, Mr Savage was bailed to appear before a judge in Hastings on June 27.
The 53-year-old former Queensland policeman took to Facebook after being bailed to plead for support to fund his legal fight against the assault charge.
In one post headed "Please help me stay out of prison," he wrote: "After helping a vaccine injured person at no charge he turned against me and complained to NZ police."
The post, which has since been deleted, said Savage had hired a $300-an-hour barrister who was "making submissions to change the charge to a more appropriate one that I would be happy to plead guilty for".
He said Australia-based donors who contributed $100 to his legal fund, or those outside Australia who gave $130, would be sent one litre of "ancient magnesium oil with boron and sulphur ... to show my appreciation".
Mr Savage's bail conditions require him to surrender his passport, adhere to an overnight curfew, stay out of Hawke's Bay except for court appearances and "not to administer alternative medicine to any other person".
Mr Savage has described himself online as an "oxygen therapist to detox efficiently".
He has been an active campaigner against vaccinations and claims to be able to cure people of illness by injecting them with magnesium.
Mr Savage has reportedly been investigated in Australia and Indonesia over intravenous treatments administered in those countries.
The Napier man he is accused of assaulting said last month he "had no food and no insulin for three to four days" during a "detox" overseen by Mr Savage.
"Eventually I ... called an ambulance and police," he said.
Mr Savage did not respond to requests for comment.
This article first appeared on stuff.co.nz
