Controversies
On 24 May 2003, following the Auckland Blues Super 12 Final victory over the Canterbury Crusaders, Howlett and then Blues teammate 'Mils' Malili Muliaina were involved in a brawl at Auckland's Spy Bar, started when an intoxicated Howlett threw a glass at one of the bartenders. As a result Muliaina was left with a broken eye socket and dislocated nose.
Howlett was arrested on 9 October 2007 outside Heathrow Airport's Hilton Hotel on suspicion of criminal damage to two cars. This followed the All Blacks' loss in Cardiff to France a few days earlier, a game in which Howlett did not play despite his being in form throughout the Rugby World Cup tournament. Howlett subsequently issued an apology through the media.
He was again arrested on 23 December 2010 on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly after his team's Christmas party in Kilkenny city. However, he was never charged by the police, which led to questions about what had actually happened on the night. These were answered in August 2011 when the Irish Sun newspaper printed an apology to Howlett. In their apology, they admitted numerous factual errors in their reporting on the incident and admitted that it was another person and not Doug Howlett involved in the incident, in which a Munster fan was injured. Doug Howlett is the patron of his own charity and it is believed that the Irish Sun made a contribution to this charity in compensation.
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