An Auckland police officer lied while giving evidence in court to protect his brother, who had been charged with assaulting a mother and her son, the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) has found.
On May 12, 2018, the accused was involved in a physical altercation with his neighbours. The officer, who was off-duty at the time and visiting his sibling, separated the parties.
The brother was later charged with assaulting the mother and her son and for using threatening language. He pleaded guilty to attacking the son, but denied threatening him or assaulting his mother.
According to the IPCA's report, released on Thursday, the officer elected to be a witness for the defence and provided evidence in court, as well as a written statement.
As the officer worked in the Pukekohe area, the matter - originally assigned to a local police prosecutor - was transferred to Manukau due to the conflict of interest.
The presiding Judge rejected the officer's evidence and found there was a clear attempt by him - and his brother's wife - to protect the accused by minimising his behaviour.
The IPCA subsequently launched its own investigation and concluded that the policeman had lied in court to protect his brother. It was also found that the officer's supervisor was also not adequately informed of his involvement in the trial, breaching the New Zealand Police conflict of interest policy.
"Our own independent assessment of the evidence drew us to the same conclusion as the court as far as the officer's intentions to protect his brother were concerned," the IPCA Chair, Judge Colin Doherty, said in a statement on Thursday.
"The differences in accounts between witnesses are such that there is no way either party could simply be mistaken and we were drawn to the further conclusion that the officer lied to the court in an attempt to protect his brother."
New Zealand Police later issued a statement acknowledging the findings of the report.
"At this stage, our criminal and employment investigations have not yet been completed," Counties Manukau District Commander Superintendent Jill Rogers said.
"Therefore it would be inappropriate for Police to comment further at this stage until these matters have been completed."
