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Archive for the ‘NEW ZEALAND’ Category
Auckland New Zealand Man Awarded $7500 After Illegal Detention In Police Cells And Pepper Spray Attack
July 1st, 2008
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - An Auckland man has won a seven-year battle with police after receiving a $7500 payout for being unlawfully detained in police cells, during which time he was pepper-sprayed and needed ambulance treatment.
The man, now 47, admits to having a “chequered past” but has since turned his life around.
He has changed his name, is self-employed and owns his own home on the North Shore - achievements he attributes to an education programme he attended which taught him a trade while serving almost five years in Paremoremo Prison for a charge of grievous bodily harm.
The police payout several weeks ago stems from an incident in Wellington Central Police Station in January 2002 when the man, then known as Seamus McDonnell, reported for his weekly bail check.
Mr McDonnell was on bail awaiting sentencing on five charges of providing police a false driver’s licence after being caught speeding five times.
Read MorePolice Officer Aaron Holmes Convicted After Auckland New Zealand Crash That Seriously Injured Child
June 24th, 2008
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - A police officer whose car struck a lamp post, which fell onto and seriously injured an Auckland teenager has been convicted of careless use of a motor vehicle.
During a pursuit in August last year, Constable Aaron Holmes’ car crashed into a lamp post in Mt Albert, which toppled onto 14-year-old Farhat Buksh.
Aaron Holmes told the Auckland District Court that the speed he was driving would have been careless in a normal situation, but that the situation was not normal.
However, Judge McHardy found the constable guilty of careless use of a motor vehicle, and remanded him to appear for sentencing in August.
New Zealand Department Of Corrections “Recovers” Highly Sensitive File Concerning Criminals From Newpaper That Was Found In The Street
June 23rd, 2008
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - The Department of Corrections and police tonight recovered a highly sensitive file containing names and personal details of some of the country’s most notorious criminals.
In a joint statement Corrections chief executive Barry Matthews and Detective Inspector Bernie Hollewand confirmed that the missing file and copies were recovered this evening from the Auckland offices of the New Zealand Herald newspaper.
“So as not to jeopardise ongoing police enquiries no further comment will be made at this stage,” they said.
“It is expected that these enquiries, including a decision as to whether charges will be laid, will be completed early next week.”
The confidential file was apparently found on an Auckland street by a member of the public, said to be a former Corrections employee.
Entitled “High Risk/High Profile Offenders — Pending New Zealand Parole Board Hearing”, the dossier includes personal details, addresses offenders are to be or have been paroled to and issues tagged as potential problems.
Read More4 Whakatane New Zealand Police Officers On Trial After Beating Man In Cell
June 9th, 2008
WHAKATANE, NEW ZEALAND - Four Whakatane policemen go on trial in Tauranga District Court today accused of beating a prisoner in custody.
Sergeants Keith Parsons, 51, and Erle Busby, 46, Senior Constable Bruce Laing, 45, and Constable John Mills, 38, have denied a joint charge of assaulting a man with pepper spray and batons in Whakatane police cells. Appeared Here
Continues, elsewhere:
A young Whakatane man whose mental health was deteriorating suffered repeated attacks by local police officers who allegedly blasted him with pepper spray and beat him with batons, a Tauranga District Court jury was told today.
Rawiri Falwasser, 20, was described by the crown as “looking like a lost sheep” when he got into trouble with police for the first time on Labour Day 2006. He was picked up on suspicion of taking a neighbour’s car and driving it dangerously.
Read More4 Whakatane New Zealand Police Officers On Trial After Beating Man In Cell
June 9th, 2008
WHAKATANE, NEW ZEALAND - Four Whakatane policemen go on trial in Tauranga District Court today accused of beating a prisoner in custody.
Sergeants Keith Parsons, 51, and Erle Busby, 46, Senior Constable Bruce Laing, 45, and Constable John Mills, 38, have denied a joint charge of assaulting a man with pepper spray and batons in Whakatane police cells. Appeared Here
Complaints Pile Up Against Former New Zealand Police Officer Turned Private Investigator Peter Gibbons
June 7th, 2008
DUNEDIN, NEW ZEALAND - Distressed ACC claimants complaining of bully-boy tactics want a controversial private eye put out of business.
Dunedin man Bruce Van Essen claims he’s been unfairly targeted over ACC fraud allegations by former cop-turned-private investigator Peter Gibbons and his agents.
D Scene can reveal Van Essen is one of 16 ACC clients or supporters to have lodged objections against PI licences being renewed for Gibbons and his Dunedin firm, Mainland Information Consultants.
Mainland investigator and former detective Graeme Scott faces a single objection to his licence being renewed.
Private Investigators and Security Guards Registrar Gary Harrison confirms a hearing akin to a commission of inquiry will be convened in Dunedin within three months.
Read MoreWellington New Zealand Police Officer Theo Gommans In Hot Water Over Nazi-Like Pink Vests For Graffiti Artists
June 3rd, 2008
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND - A Wellington community police constable has come under fire for making graffiti offenders wear a pink vest while painting over their tags.
Constable Theo Gommans said the vests, emblazoned with the word “tagger”, would make the offenders think about the consequences of their actions.
He had seen a reduction in tagging offences since he began touring schools with the pink vest, he said.
But Wellington City Councillor Iona Pannett wants the pink vests banned. She likened them to pink triangle badges used to identify homosexuals at concentration camps in Nazi Germany. Appeared Here
Tauranga New Zealand Police Officer Suspended After Drunken Beating Of Man Outside A Bar As 5 On Duty Officers Watched And Did Nothing
March 3rd, 2008
TAURANGA, NEW ZEALAND - A Tauranga policeman is under investigation after allegedly grabbing a man by the throat and slamming him to the ground while off-duty outside a city bar.
The alleged victim, Daniel Bull, 19 of Pyes Pa, near Tauranga, claims he was out with two friends last Saturday when the officer grabbed him around the throat for at least 15 seconds, cutting off his airway.
Mr Bull alleged it was an unprovoked attack witnessed by five on-duty police officers who did nothing about it.
The officer concerned has been stood down.
He believed the attack was caused by misinformation passed on by a woman the officer was with.
Mr Bull believed the woman mistook him for somebody else who had spat in her face the previous night. Mr Bull said he was in Hamilton that evening and it was not him.
Read MoreHamilton New Zealand Police Bust Meth Lab, Except It Turned Out To Be Man’s Equipment For Brewing Beer
March 2nd, 2008
HAMILTON, NEW ZEALAND - A drugs bust in Hamilton yesterday turned out to be a fizzer when officers discovered it was a ginger beer brewing set-up.
The suspected clandestine drugs lab (clan-lab) was being investigated by Hamilton police after a tip-off.
A neighbour said a burglar alarm at the Beerescourt Rd property had been activated, triggering a response from a security firm.
Security firm staff opened the garage at the property and discovered a still. Believing it to be a possible drugs lab, they called police, who arrived in several marked and unmarked cars, and cordoned off a section of the road.
A fire service appliance and firefighters also arrived.
The neighbour said she overheard the resident discussing the situation with officers, and explaining to them it was “my husband’s bloody ginger beer set-up”.
Read More“Computer Game” Geocache “Device” Triggers Auckland New Zealand Bomb Scare, Closes Part Of Downtown As Police Continue To Suffer From Post 9/11 Hysteria
February 13th, 2008
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - A bomb scare caused by a computer game closed a busy part of downtown Auckland today.
Mayoral Drive was closed between the intersections of Wellesley St West and Cook St after a package was seen being strapped to a railing at the rear of the Aotea Centre about 3.50pm.
Motorists were asked to stay away from the area while the Defence Force bomb squad was called to examine the package.
Senior Sergeant Junior Abraham told NZPA the call to police was made by Aotea Centre security staff who saw somebody acting suspiciously around a railing before then planting the device.
A quick view of closed circuit camera footage was enough to convince police to call the bomb squad, he said.
While the area was blocked off, an employee from nearby Datacom came to police and told them the device was a geocache, a tracking device used by computer buffs.
Read MoreNew Zealand Police Officer Steve Hales Sexual Assault Victim Wanted Justice, But Gets Nothing
January 10th, 2008
NEW ZEALAND - A sexual assault complainant who had her details looked up by a former policeman says it was a disgrace that he resigned without facing any disciplinary action.
Tauranga woman Donna Johnson told the Herald last night she was shocked to learn former constable Steve Hales had not only accessed her details in 2006 - despite her having laid harassment complaints about him in the past - but that it took police so long to tell her.
Mr Hales is the brother of Warren Hales, who admitted abducting a woman for a pack rape by Brad Shipton, Bob Schollum and Peter McNamara in 1989.
“I think it’s disgraceful that the police have known since 2004 about an allegation of harassment that I made against Steven Hales,” said Ms Johnson. “I [also] spoke to Operation Austin in 2007 and in November of 2007 Mr Hales offers his resignation - well, sorry that’s really not good enough.”
Read MoreNew Plymouth New Zealand Police Officer Chases Car, Gets His Ass Kicked, And His Patrol Car Stolen
January 1st, 2008
NEW PLYMOUTH, NEW ZEALAND - A 60-year-old New Plymouth police officer was taken to hospital after two men assaulted him and stole his patrol car.
The highway sergeant had been pursuing a Toyota Corona in Albert Rd, New Plymouth at 8.20pm yesterday, which had failed to stop. The vehicle crashed, and the driver and one passenger fled the scene but returned shortly afterwards and assaulted the officer before stealing his car.
The patrol vehicle was spiked a short distance away and its occupants arrested. The 25-year-old male driver from Waikanae will appear in New Plymouth District Court on assault charges. The sergeant was treated at New Plymouth Hospital for concussion and bruising.
New Zealand Corrections Officers Under Investigation After Drunken Brawl At Manawatu Prison Christmas Party Spilled Into Street
November 26th, 2007
NEW ZEALAND - Two separate inquiries have been launched after a Manawatu Prison Christmas staff function at a Palmerston North hotel descended into a brawl on Saturday night.
Staff at the Awapuni Hotel, concerned about the rowdy behaviour, pulled the plug on the party an hour early and trouble spilled out into the street with one prison guard headbutting another.
Police and the Corrections Department are both now investigating the incident.
Hotel manager Darryn Street said there were more than 100 people at the party, which was booked until 1am. His staff decided to close at midnight.
“People were starting to argue, starting to yell … it’s the kind of thing you expect to happen more at 21sts,” he told The Dominion Post.
Police confirmed that officers attended a “typical” drunken disorder incident at the hotel, but had not yet taken statements. It was too early to say whether charges would follow.
Read MoreAuckland New Zealand Police Officer Charged After Crashing Unmarked Patrol Car Into Lamp Pole. Accident Left Child With Fractured Neck And Brain Injuries.
November 26th, 2007
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - A policeman who crashed an unmarked car into a lamp-post which fell and left a teenage boy fighting for his life has been charged with driving offences.
Farhat Buksh, 13, suffered brain injuries and a fractured neck when he was hit by the falling lamp-post while walking across a pedestrian crossing outside an Auckland primary school.
The police car was chasing a vehicle which allegedly avoided a nearby alcohol checkpoint - the offender was never caught.
The freak accident in August put Farhat in a coma for a week and he still cannot remember anything from the day it happened.
Senior Sergeant Tony Edwards, the officer in charge of the investigation, confirmed the officer driving the car would face a charge of careless driving causing injury.
“Some documentation has been served,” said Edwards. “A member will be appearing next week in the Auckland District Court.”
Read MoreNew Zealand Department Of Corrections Is “Extremely Sorry” Paroled Killer Ended Up Living Next Door To Daughter Of Woman He Killed
November 25th, 2007
NEW ZEALAND - The Department of Corrections says it is extremely sorry a convicted killer ended up living next door to the daughter of the woman he stabbed to death. But the department says it can do only so much when it is deciding where to place freed criminals.
The murder victim’s daughter has apparently had recurring nightmares of seeing her mother stabbed to death by the man when she was six, 15 years ago.
The Department says it looks at the Victims’ Notification Register to check where victims of crime are living, but if those details are not kept up to date, there is not much it can do. Corrections spokeswoman Katrina Casey says victims of crime need to make sure they are on the Victims’ Notification Register and that they keep their location details up to date. She says in this instance, officials did not realise the aggrieved woman even existed.
Read MoreTotally Disgraced New Zealand Assistant Police Commissioner Clint Rickards, Suspended Since 2004 And Collecting $150K A Year, Finally Quits
November 23rd, 2007
NEW ZEALAND - Assistant Commissioner Clint Rickards, the top-level police officer whose career was tarnished by rape allegations, has resigned.
Rickards announced on Thursday evening that he’s quitting the force.
Rickards was suspended on full pay in February 2004 when police launched an investigation into the Louise Nicholas rape allegations.
Rickards and former policemen Bob Schollum and Brad Shipton were acquitted of sex allegations in March. But the case prompted an internal police investigation into Rickards’ behaviour.
It was announced late in October that he would face an internal disciplinary hearing after being accused of 11 charges of misconduct. The hearing will not now take place, his resignation bringing to an end his dispute with the police.
If found guilty on any of the charges he could have been sacked, demoted or fined by the Police Commissioner.
Read MoreYet Another Rotorua New Zealand Police Officer Under Investigation For Rape
November 3rd, 2007
ROTORUA, NEW ZEALAND - Police are considering laying charges against another Rotorua police officer from the 1980s who has been accused of rape.
Rotorua’s acting district crime manager Inspector Robert Jones confirmed yesterday that police were close to deciding whether to charge a former officer with “allegations of a sexual nature”, The Dominion Post reports.
Mr Jones said the complaint was made in December last year and was initially investigated by the head of Rotorua CIB, Detective Inspector Garth Bryan, until he transferred to other duties.
Any decision on charges over the offending which was alleged to have occurred in 1989, would be made after discussions between senior police and the crown prosecutor’s office, he said.
Mr Jones was unable to comment further because the matter could end up before the courts.
Read MoreNew Zealand’s Head Judge Tony Randerson Trys To Justify Police Officer John Dewar’s Tiny Sentence For Mishandling Rape Allegations
October 9th, 2007
NEW ZEALAND - New Zealand’s head judge has taken the unusual step of defending a court sentence, hitting back at a report saying a bent former cop got off lightly.
Chief High Court Judge Tony Randerson said the Weekend Herald was not fair in its reporting of former detective John Dewar’s reduced sentence for covering up rape allegations against fellow officers.
Dewar, jailed for 4½ years, had his sentence discounted, partly because he would face “hardship” in prison.
He was found guilty in August of four charges of attempting to obstruct or defeat the course of justice for his handling of rape allegations by Louise Nicholas.
Mrs Nicholas approached Dewar, then head of the Rotorua CIB, in 1993 with two historic sex allegations, including those against suspended assistant commissioner Clint Rickards and former policemen Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum.
Read MoreFormer New Zealand Police Inspector John Dewar Sentenced To 4 1/2 Years In Prison After Covering Up Woman’s Rape Allegations
October 6th, 2007
NEW ZEALAND - A former police inspector who covered up rape allegations made by Louise Nicholas in the 1980s has been sentenced to four and a half years in prison.
John Dewar, 55, was convicted on four counts of attempting to obstruct justice.
At the High Court in Hamilton on Friday, Justice Rodney Hansen told Dewar he had utterly betrayed Mrs Nicholas’s trust in him when she was at her most vulnerable.
Justice Rodney Hansen said Dewar had a remarkable capacity for self-delusion and avoidance, which may have explained his conduct. The judge said he was satisfied that Dewar’s motives were to protect the three officers involved.
Dewar’s lawyer, Paul Mabey QC, told the court Dewar does not accept the verdict of the jury, and does not want to express any contrition. He said his client will forever maintain his innocence.
Read MoreSuspended For 3 Years, Driving New Car At Public Expense, New Zealand Police Commissioner Clint Rickards Now Faces 10 Charges Under Police Disciplinary Provisions
September 21st, 2007
NEW ZEALAND - Suspended assistant police commissioner Clint Rickards has been charged with alleged misconduct offences and will face an internal police disciplinary tribunal.
The Dominion Post understands that he is to face at least 10 charges under police disciplinary provisions.
If he is found guilty on any of the charges, he can legally be sacked.
Police have been under pressure to sort out Mr Rickards’ employment status since he was acquitted in March last year of sexual offences against Louise Nicholas and one other woman in the 1980s.
He has been suspended on full pay since February 2004 when a police investigation began into Mrs Nicholas’ allegations, published in The Dominion Post.
He was acquitted along with two former officers, Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum, both of whom were already serving time for rape as a result of a separate trial stemming from Mrs Nicholas’ allegations.
Read MoreSuspended And Collecting $250,000 Salary For Three Years, Why Does New Zealand Police Commander Clint Rickards Need New $50,000 Car At Public Expense When It Will Not Be Used For Public’s Benefit?
September 17th, 2007
NEW ZEALAND - National is describing as bizarre a decision to deliver suspended top police officer Clint Rickards a near-new police car for his personal use.
Rickards is in negotiations with police on his demands to return to work now he has been acquitted of historic sex charges.
National’s police spokesman Chester Borrows says the public will be justifiably outraged when they learn Rickards has a two-month-old top-of-the-line Holden Commodore to replace his old set of police wheels.
Mr Burrows says the car is part of Rickard’s employment agreement that includes a $250,000 salary that continues to be paid.
Mr Burrows says Rickards hasn’t worked as a police officer for three years and there is not much likelihood the new set of wheels will be used for police business any time soon.
Suspended For Last 3 Years, New Zealand Police Commander Clint Rickards Rewarded With New Car At Public Expense
September 16th, 2007
NEW ZEALAND - News that suspended Police Commander Clint Rickards has been given a two-month-old, top-of-the-line Holden Commodore as part of his salary package, has struck a sour note with National’s Police spokesman, Chester Borrows.
The vehicle is included in Clint Rickards salary package of $250,000, but the Commodore will not be used for police business, because the suspended top cop is barred from entering police premises.
“There will quite rightfully be a public outcry that a suspended employee, who hasn’t been anywhere near police work for three years, can have his vehicle replaced.
“Not a single kilometre on the car just retired will have been used for police work by Clint Rickards, and there is little chance that the new set of wheels will be used on official business anytime soon.
“This is a bizarre situation, and the Minister needs to explain how it happened, what she is doing to fix it, and when the public can expect some answers.”
Read MoreCrazed Cromwell New Zealand Police Charge Man With Selling Bugs They Claimed Weren’t Theirs
September 8th, 2007
CROMWELL, NEW ZEALAND - A Cromwell man who found police surveillance gear in two cars they returned to him has been arrested for theft of property.
Ralph Williams had put the devices up for auction on Trade Me but police had the ad taken off the the internet website.
Williams was being a little cheeky when he found the bugs in two cars given back to him by police and put them up for sale on the web. Police pulled the ad, apparently telling Trade Me that the seller did not own the devices.
ONE News reporter Tsehai Tiffin was there when the police team swooped and they confirmed he was under arrest for the theft of “some property of the New Zealand Police”.
Williams told ONE News that the items had to be the listening devices.
Read MoreVteran New Zealand Police Officer To Stand Trial For Child Molestation Of 12 Year Old Girl
September 1st, 2007
NEW ZEALAND - A long-serving police officer accused of sexually violating a 12-year-old girl is still on full pay 10 months after first being charged.
The officer, whose name is suppressed, has been suspended since December last year and will appear in court on October 1 for a pre-trial conference. Police have also seized his work computer.
The officer’s lawyer, Philip Hall, told the Herald on Sunday his client vigorously denied the allegations.
Sources close to the case say the complaint arose after the girl confided in an adult friend.
A complaint was then laid with police and the matter was investigated. As a result, charges were laid.
The girl, the source said, had since undergone counselling and was now starting to “come out of her shell” again.
“She is such a lovely, adorable kid … real outgoing and smart. She used to be a laugh-a-minute, but then suddenly she became very withdrawn and quiet.”
Read MoreChristchurch New Zealand Judge Murray Abbott Dies On Way To Court To Hear Suspended Police Officer’s Case
August 10th, 2007
CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND – District Court Judge Murray Abbott, who died suddenly in Christchurch on Thursday morning, is remembered as a well-respected and hard working member of the judiciary.
Judge Abbott was on his way to Christchurch District Court this morning when he collapsed and died suddenly. He was 57.
Just yesterday he had finished presiding over the seven-day trial of a suspended police recruit who was acquitted by a jury on charges of attacking and sexually violating a Christchurch prostitute.
A partner in the Christchurch law firm Anthony Harper for many years, Judge Abbott was appointed to the District Court and Youth Court benches in 1989. He is survived by his wife, Catherine, and three children.
Judge Abbott was born in the Taranaki town of Eltham and went to school at Wanganui Collegiate. He studied law at Canterbury University, and after graduating in 1973 began practice with the then Christchurch law firm of Harper Pascoe and Co.
Read MoreHastings New Zealand Police Chase Kills Child
August 10th, 2007
HASTINGS, NEW ZEALAND – A Hastings youth has died after crashing into a bridge during a police chase early on Saturday.
The youth, aged 17, who was the driver of the car, died at the scene. Another person is seriously injured after their car crashed into a bridge 10km from Hastings.
Police say they believe the proper procedures were followed during the incident and had been chasing the speeding car for just a short time before the fatal crash.
They say an officer was responding to reports of boy racer activity in the area when two cars sped toward him.
Police spokesperson Kris McGehan says the officer began the chase. After a short time, one of the speeding cars lost control and crashed into a bridge abutment.
A traffic crash investigation and an internal investigation is under way. The Police Complaints Authority has also been notified.
Read MoreAnother 12 Victims Of New Zealand Police Officer’s Sexual Abuse Surface
August 9th, 2007
NEW ZEALAND – The inquiry into the police pack rapists uncovered up to a dozen other alleged women victims.
The officer who headed the Operation Austin investigation, Detective Superintendent Nick Perry, said the women told of sexual misconduct by the “core group” of officers around convicted rapists Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum.
The allegations were sent to a Crown Solicitor for a decision on whether charges could be laid, but were not put to a court for various reasons.
“Some people were reluctant to become involved, and some other people were willing to give evidence, but we had to ask if we had enough evidence to pursue it, ” Mr Perry said.
Operation Austin began in 2004 after Louise Nicholas went public with allegations of pack rape in the 1980s by suspended assistant commissioner Clint Rickards and now-jailed former officers Shipton and Schollum.
Read MoreMourners Crash ‘Like Dominoes’ After New Zealand Police Stop Hearse
August 8th, 2007
TE ANAU, NEW ZEALAND – Mourners’ vehicles crashed into each other “like dominoes” after a police officer pulled over the hearse leading the cortege near Te Anau.
Police have launched an internal investigation after the Te Anau policewoman ordered a hearse to pull over as it led a cortege of between 80 and 100 cars to the Te Anau cemetery last week, causing nose-to-tail crashes behind.
Three vehicles were damaged, two of them extensively, resulting in the policewoman having to ferry some mourners back to Te Anau.
There was speculation the incident was the funeral director’s second brush with Te Anau police, who pulled him up for speeding en route to the town, the Southland Times reported.
This has been denied by the funeral director.
A son of the dead man, who was in the car behind the hearse, was “bloody furious” with police.
Read MoreBlenheim New Zealand Police Officer Locked In Cell At Station, Man Walks Out Front Door :)
August 7th, 2007
BLENHEIM, NEW ZEALAND – A prisoner held a shard of perspex to an police officer’s throat before locking the officer in a cell at the Blenheim police station and calmly walking out the front door.
Details of how Mark Hulme, 24, escaped from the cells at Blenheim Police station on Monday last week have been revealed. Police are still reviewing procedures after Hulme smashed a perspex cell window covering last Monday.
When a police watch-house keeper came to take him to the shower he grabbed the officer, holding the perspex shard to his throat and slightly cutting him, then locked him in the cell. He then walked out through the station’s reception area and was not questioned.
The detained police officer, the sole officer on duty in the watch-house area, which has 10 cells, was unable to attract the attention of other staff as prisoners often make a ruckus.
Read MoreNew Zealand Police Recruit Denies Raping Whore After His Fingerprints Match Those In Database
July 31st, 2007
CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND – A police recruit who gave his fingerprints routinely during police training has been charged with raping a prostitute after the prints were matched with databases, a court has been told.
The man, 32, whose name is suppressed, denies charges of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, sexual violation by rape, or in the alternative, assault with intent to commit sexual violation.
Opening the case in the Christchurch District Court yesterday before Judge Murray Abbott and a jury, Crown prosecutor Phil Shamy said on March 15, 2003, the complainant was plying her trade in Christchurch’s Manchester Street.
About 5am the accused offered her $150 for sex, and she borrowed a friend’s car and took him to a Stanmore Road flat she used for the purpose.
But on arrival, a man who was supposed to be there was not present, and the house was locked.
Read MoreVeteran Auckland New Zealand Correctional Officer Charged With Bringing Drugs Into Prison
July 30th, 2007
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND – An Auckland prison guard will appear in court this week after he was allegedly found bringing drugs into a jail last Friday.
The 47-year-old man will appear in North Shore District Court on Thursday after he was allegedly found with cannabis when he was stopped upon arrival for work at Auckland Prison at Paremoremo.
The prison guard will face a charge of attempting to bring an item into prison intending that it comes into possession of a prisoner, which is a breach of the Corrections Act.
The guard, a seven-year veteran with Corrections who has been suspended from his job, could face imprisonment of up to three months and a fine up to $2000.
The case arose after the officer’s car was searched and the drugs found on Friday in what the Corrections Department described as “routine crime-prevention activities”.
Read MoreWellington New Zealand Authorities Fine Man $100 For Littering In A Trash Can
July 28th, 2007
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND – A Wellington man who decided to clean out his car while waiting for a kebab was fined $100 for littering - in a rubbish bin.
The man said he took some rubbish from the back of his car and put it in a green council bin outside a kebab shop in Hataitai.
“I assumed, incorrectly as it turns out, that as it was a litter bin I was able to put litter in it,” he said.
Wellington City Council duly sent him a litter infringement notice, which carried a $100 fine.
Under a bylaw passed last year, such a fine will soon increase to $400.
The man said he had no idea that putting a bit of rubbish in a bin was a sin.
He wrote to the council, pointing out the ticket had the wrong address and explaining the circumstances.
Read MoreMore Group Sex Claims Emerge At Hamilton New Zealand Police Officer’s Trial
July 25th, 2007
HAMILTON, NEW ZEALAND – Further allegations of group sex by police officers in the 1980s have emerged at the start of a Hamilton man’s trial on charges of attempting to obstruct the course of justice.
The Crown alleges former Rotorua CIB head John Buchanan Dewar, 55, tried to cover up Louise Nicholas’ allegations of sexual offending by Assistant Police Commissioner Clint Rickards and former police officers Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum.
While Dewar claims his relationship with Mr Rickards, Shipton and Schollum was purely professional, in the High Court at Hamilton yesterday it was alleged Dewar and Shipton had group sex with a Bay of Plenty woman near the end of 1987.
Dewar has denied four counts of attempting to obstruct or defeat the course of justice relating to Mrs Nicholas’ claims that she was raped by Mr Rickards, Schollum and Shipton while they were stationed in Rotorua in the 1980s.
Read MoreWestport New Zealand Police Officer Gets His Ass Kicked As Crowed Cheers
July 8th, 2007
WESTPORT, NEW ZEALAND – Westport police are “disgusted” that a police officer was assaulted by a youth while a crowd of teenagers cheered the attacker on.
Senior Sergeant Geoff Scott said police were notified in the early hours of Saturday morning that an extremely large number of teenagers, both male and female were causing trouble in central Westport.
The lone on duty constable found the teenagers in Passive Gardens in Victoria Square, and asked them to disperse.
Most of them had been drinking and had alcohol with them, in breach of the Buller District Council liquor ban.
” They were still being disruptive to the neighbourhood and when requested to disperse the constable was faced with obscenities and defiance,” Mr Scott said.
“The constable was fronted up by a particularly obnoxious male and refused to back off.”
The officer arrested the youth for disorderly behaviour and took him to the patrol car.
Read MoreSuspended Auckland New Zealand Assistant Police Commissioner Clint Rickards Faces More Charges
July 7th, 2007
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND – Suspended Assistant Commissioner Clint Rickards is expected to face a total of six internal disciplinary charges for serious misconduct, which could effectively bring to an end his 27-year career in the police.
Despite being acquitted on 10 charges, including kidnapping, rape and indecent assault, over the course of two trials, police have refused to reinstate Rickards as Auckland’s top cop.
Now the Herald on Sunday can reveal Rickards is likely to face six internal disciplinary charges, which if upheld will dash any hope he had of returning to the police.
Two charges relate to Rickards’ admission in court he had sex with Louise Nicholas while two relate to comments he made outside the High Court at Auckland where he described the police investigation as “a shambles” - and gave his support to convicted rapists Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum.
Read MoreNew Zealand Police Officer Molested Niece While In Uniform, Court Told
July 2nd, 2007
NEW ZEALAND – A former Waikato policeman molested his 14-year-old niece while in uniform, told her she was a “good girl”, kissed her on the forehead and then went to work.
Those claims against a 52-year-old man, who still lives in the region but is no longer in the police, were made on the first day of a trial in the High Court at Hamilton yesterday.
The man, who can’t be named because it would identify the victim, is facing three counts of rape, eight of indecent assault, and two of unlawful sexual connection. All the charges relate to his niece, and almost all allegedly occurred in Hamilton when the girl was aged between 12 and 16, from 1981 to 1984.
Read More2,500 Complaints Against New Zealand Police
June 22nd, 2007
NEW ZEALAND – The New Zealand Police Complaints Authority (PCA) had received a staggering 2,500 complaints lodged as of May 2001.
“So, what relevance is 6 year-old information?”, you may ask.
That’s easy…
SIX YEARS LATER THE COMPLAINTS AGAINST THE NEW ZEALAND POLICEJUST ‘KEEP ON KEEPING ON!’
Rape, sexual assault, pepper spray assault, downloading of Internet porn, viewing of beastiality videos; the list just keeps on growing!
Why do we tolerate it?
Why, six years after Phil Goff launched an enquiry into complaints against NZ Police are the crimes and allegations of crimescontinuing to mount?
Why is it that the very members of parliament we entrust with ‘managing the country and the people within it’ are utterly inconsequential when it comes to effecting change where change is so badly needed i.e. in a corrupt Police force?
Read MoreAfter The Fact, New Zealand Wants Data On Police Use Of Taser Weapons On The Mentally Ill
June 21st, 2007
NEW ZEALAND – The Mental Health Foundation claims not enough is known about the long-term effects of taser guns on people with mental health problems.
The weapons have now been deployed 101 times since police began a trial of the stun guns on 1 September.
The foundation says although there are initial medical checks after a taser has been used, there is a need for follow-ups over the longer term.
Officers actually fired the tasers at people 15 times; seven of the targets were people who were mentally unwell.
Police say instances of taser use on apparently mentally ill people are at the extreme end of normal police work.
Inspector Terry O’Neill, who is in charge of the trial, says a mental health professional was present in all seven cases when a subject was shot with a taser.
Read MoreFormer Dunedin New Zealand Police Officer Peter Gibbons Denies Showing Bestiality Film At Police Commissioner’s Party
May 15th, 2007
NEW ZEALAND – The man accused of showing a bestiality film at a party at Police Commissioner Howard Broad’s house in 1981 has categorically denied that he supplied the film.
A former Dunedin police officer, Peter Gibbons, says another former officer turned private investigator, Wayne Idour, took the film to the house and watched it.
In a statement on Tuesday, Mr Idour says he recalls a movie being shown which depicted bestiality and he expressed his disgust to people nearby.
Mr Idour says there were a number of people watching the film and he recalls hearing a lot of cheering and crude comments.
He says any allegations that he supplied the film are completely and totally false.
Mr Idour says he told Investigate magazine about the film and it is ludicrous to suggest he would have done so if he had supplied the movie.
Read MoreSubway Store Calls Cops, Has Employee Arrested For Stealing Free Soda
May 6th, 2007
NEW ZEALAND – A food worker who poured two cups of Diet Coke at work without paying for them has lost her job and is facing criminal charges.
Dunedin worker Jackie Lang was fired from her fulltime job at fast-food franchise Subway after she shared a drink with a friend while consoling her during a break.
About two weeks after she was fired, police charged her with the theft of two cups of Coke valued at $4. She will appear in Dunedin District Court this month.
Autonomous Workers Union organiser Bill Clark says the dismissal is one of the worst he has seen. He says the Subway handbook allows free soda and water while working.
Losing her job and facing criminal charges has upset Lang, who is taking a personal grievance action against Subway. Through an intermediary, she said the company’s actions were a shock, embarrassing and had caused her financial hardship. She felt she should have been given a warning rather than been fired and that the response was out of proportion to her actions.
Read MoreNew Zealander’s Case Reaches Supreme Court, Wins Right To Sing Protest Song Outside Cop’s House, After Bogus Disorderly Behavior Charge And Conviction
May 5th, 2007
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND - New Zealand’s Supreme Court ruled Friday that a demonstrator was allowed to sing a protest song outside a police officer’s residence because the Bill of Rights guaranteed him freedom of expression, news reports said.
Allistair Brooker, 37, had appealed his conviction for disorderly behaviour for playing his guitar and singing a self-composed protest song outside Constable Fiona Croft’s house for 15 minutes one morning in March 2003.
The officer, who had just finished night duty, had been involved in search warrants exercised at Brooker’s house, Radio New Zealand reported.
Brooker had been fined 300 New Zealand dollars (about 222 US dollars) for disorderly behaviour, but the Supreme Court ruled that his right to protest was guaranteed under the Bill of Rights and he had not been disorderly.
Former New Zealand Officer Jason Peters, So Drunk He Vomited Out Of Police Car After Arrest, Charged After Drunken Wreck Which Left Newlywed With Serious Brain Injuries
April 15th, 2007
NEW ZEALAND – A former policeman charged with causing a crash which nearly killed an Auckland mum was so drunk he vomited out of a police car shortly after the accident, prosecution witnesses say.
Newlywed Michelle Davies was left with serious brain injuries. Doctors considered turning off her life support just days after the crash near Maramarua in the Waikato in May last year.
Aucklander Jason Peters was driving a black BMW along SH2 between Tauranga and Auckland when he crossed the centre line and crashed head-on into the Davies’ family Jeep Cherokee.
The crash left Peters’ two passengers, including his brother, seriously injured and Davies’ six-year-old daughter Gemma trapped in her car seat. She escaped with bruising.
But Peters fled the scene and heat-seeking equipment on the police Eagle helicopter later located him hiding behind a tree.
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