| Karam playing in Fullback position for Horowhenua, 12 July 1971. | |||
| Full name | Joseph Francis Karam | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 21 November 1951 | ||
| Place of birth | Taumarunui | ||
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||
| Weight | 82 kg (12 st 13 lb) | ||
| Rugby league career | |||
| Position | Fullback | ||
| Professional clubs | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| Glenora | |||
| National teams | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| Auckland | 7 | 65 | |
| Rugby union career | |||
| Playing career | |||
| Position | Fullback | ||
| New Zealand No. | 713 | ||
| National team(s) | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 1972–1975 | New Zealand | 42 | (345) |
| correct as of 15 May 2007. | |||
Joseph Francis "Joe" Karam (born 21 November 1951) is a former New Zealand representative rugby footballer, an entrepreneur and a campaigner for acquitted murder accused David Bain.
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Karam was born in Taumarunui to a Lebanese father and Irish mother. He grew up on the family farm near Raurimu and attended St. Patrick's College, Silverstream.[1]
Karam played 10 test matches for the national rugby union team, the All Blacks.
In 1976 Karam switched codes to rugby league, signing a three year deal with the Glenora Bears in the Auckland Rugby League competition. He scored 160 points for the Bears in 1976, winning the Painter Rosebowl Trophy as top point scorer. He again won the trophy in 1977.
Karam was selected for Auckland almost immediately, playing in six games in 1976 and scoring 53 points. This including playing in Auckland's 17-7 defeat of New South Wales City.[2] He played in one game for Auckland in 1977, kicking six goals.
However, by the final year of his contract Karam couldn't break into the Glenora side, being succeeded by Warwick Freeman. He reportedly found the tackling work rate to be far more demanding than in rugby union.[3]
Karam is known for his strong support of David Bain.[4] He helped fund Bain's appeals against his convictions for the murder of the five members of his immediate family, including his successful Privy Council appeal in 2007. Bain was required to stay with Karam during his bail period and on 5 June 2009 was acquitted on all charges at his retrial for the murders. His strong support and the financial burden that had to follow was highly influential in the eventual and emmenent freedom achieved by Bain's defence team, Matthew Karam, Helen Cull (QC), Paul Morton, and leading defence lawyer (QC) Michael Reid. In the nearly two years between the quashing of Bain's convictions and the retrial, Karam worked as a researcher and investigator for Bain's legal team, being paid $75 an hour initially and then $95 an hour, and billing 70 to 80 hours a week, adding up to $330,000 from legal aid money from a fund paid by taxpayers. His son, Matthew, was also being paid $120 an hour.[5] It is "revealed in his 1996 book David and Goliath that he and Bain had agreed they would share profits from the rights to any books, magazine articles "and the like"." "If that deal still stands, that means a cut for Karam from any future books Bain may write, any possible movie rights and interview deals. Karam last week refused to comment on the status of the arrangement when asked by the Sunday Star-Times if there were any deals in the offing. But a book publisher and the magazines have been calling."[6]