Former Labour MP Kiri Allan opens up to NZ Herald Political Editor Claire Trevett about her mental health, drink driving charges and her new politics-free life. Video / Alan Gibson / Ella Wilks
The newly released police file shows an officer found her walking away from the crash scene in the rain.
Allan was allowed to meet with her lawyer before doing an evidential breath test, meaning a reading was not taken until an hour and a half after she arrived at the police station
Police initiated protocol for a ‘high-profile’ event, locking down the scene within 10 minutes of confirming Allan was involved.
They also show Allan was allowed to meet with her lawyerbefore taking an evidential breath test, despite police protocol stating the test should be done “without delay”.
A heavily redacted copy of the police file into the July 2023 incident has been released under the Official Information Act, with statements and logs referring to the matter as a “high-profile” event and notebook scrawlings providing reminders to officers to “treat as normal member of public”.
The Herald takes a dive into the documents to unravel what happened that night.
Notes in the police events system at 9.05pm record the incident as “car vs car — nil injuries — blocking both lanes”.
The system goes on to note the female driver of the car was still there, and the informant was “worried driver is possibly intoxicated and is possibly a politician”.
Officers arrived on the scene to find Allan's ministerial vehicle blocking the road. Photo / NZ Police
Minutes later the system notes the driver is walking northbound on Evans Bay Parade, and that the driver is Kiri Allan, Minister of Justice.
By 9.42pm the system notes the driver is confirmed to be Allan. “She has blown over 400[mcg] but is refusing to engage with police further.” The notes refer to another unidentified person heading to the scene “given high-profile nature of event”.
Within 10 minutes the job is listed as restricted access, with a note saying “event locked down due to high-profile nature of persons involved”.
Allan’s actions with police heavily censored in released documents
A constable attending the scene said in his statement he arrived at Evans Bay Parade and was told by a witness “she walked that way”, as they pointed north.
“A witness said it was Kiri Allan driving. I could not picture Kiri Allan in my mind,” he said in his statement.
He drove away to find Allan and found her walking in the rain. She agreed to come sit on a park bench with him to discuss what happened. What happened next has been redacted under a section of the Official Information Act protecting “privacy of natural persons”.
Eventually, an alcohol breath test was carried out, showing a reading over 400mcg per litre of breath. A reading over 400 attracts a criminal charge of drink-driving, while a reading over 250 leads to an infringement.
The ute Allan crashed into was parked on the roadside on Evans Bay Parade, Roseneath. Photo / NZ Police
The constable then explained to Allan he would be transporting her to Wellington Central Police Station. The rest of his interactions with Allan are redacted until the senior sergeant arrives and takes over.
Another constable also gave a statement, saying when he arrived on the scene he recognised Allan.
“I have seen her multiple times on television and news shows,” he said.
Large swaths of his statement are redacted as the constable explains to Allan she is under arrest for failing to accompany him.
“When the handcuffs were applied,” the statement reads, with the rest of the sentence redacted.
Redactions to police statements on Kiri Allan's file conceal what her words and actions were after being placed under arrest.
A third constable said he recognised her on sight as “Minister Kiri Allan”.
He said his colleague “attempted” to do a breath screening test on Allan. The next steps are redacted, and his statement then notes Allan complied with a breath test.
When a senior sergeant arrived on the scene and directed Allan’s handcuffs to be removed, she agreed to get in the police car.
By the time a proper evidential breath test was conducted back at the station with Allan’s lawyer present, the reading no longer showed over 400mcg. Allan blew a result of 335mcg, nearly three hours after the crash, despite the excess breath alcohol procedure requiring an evidential test to be done “without delay”.
Despite arriving at the police station shortly after 10pm, Allan was allowed to meet with her lawyer before doing the test, meaning the breath test was not completed until about an hour and a half after arriving at the station.
Many of the notebook pages included in the police file are redacted.
An image from a police officer's notebook after Kiri Allan crashed her car shows notes reminding the officer to treat Allan as a member of the public.
The senior sergeant’s notebook includes a “decision log”.
“Treat as normal member of public,” it reads. “Ensure I do not influence officers decision ... ‘what would I do for a normal member of the public’.”
Text messages from the senior sergeant then note he is expecting to call the commissioner soon.
The Herald sought comment from NZ Police on the justification for such heavy redactions throughout the Official Information Act response, including, inexplicably, a redaction hiding the time a text message was sent between officers about Allan completing her evidential breath test. Police did not respond to the request for comment by deadline.
Did Allan admit to driving?
While much of Allan’s actions or words to police have been redacted, some small scraps of information can be gleaned from the police file.
A traffic crash report on the file includes a section labelled “driver’s comments”. It reads. “The only time I was driving was when I tried to move the car off the road. I will not say who the driver was.”
Despite her apparent refusal to tell police she was driving when the crash happened, several witnesses told police about seeing her behind the wheel and leaving the scene after the crash.
An image of the police breath alcohol test device used on Kiri Allan after her car crash shows she failed the test. Photo / NZ Police
Little else about whether Allan told police she was driving was released in the file, but the documents show some time close to midnight, officers received directions to charge her with careless driving. It is not clear if this charge came about due to an admission or from evidence gathered.
Allan later pleaded guilty to the charge administratively.
What has happened since the crash?
Chris Hipkins called an urgent press conference the morning after the crash. He told reporters Allan had been receiving counselling and professional support in recent weeks, but had been in “extreme emotional distress” at the time of the incident.
“It appears that some of her personal struggles came to a head yesterday and were contributing factors in this incident,” he said.
Allan had spoken to Hipkins after the crash, “expressed remorse” and understood that “retaining her ministerial warrant was untenable, especially for a Justice Minister to be charged with criminal offending”.
Allan admitted a charge of careless driving, but maintained her not guilty plea to the charge of failing to accompany an officer, telling the Herald she was fighting the charge because she wanted to test a grey area in the law.
Her defence was “based on the legal principle that all New Zealanders are entitled to consult with a lawyer”.
She argued she should have been allowed to speak to her lawyer before being arrested and taken to the station.
Allan was set to go on trial in May this year, but pleaded guilty on the morning of the trial, saying the past year had been challenging and she wanted the chapter closed.
“This case is a bookend to that and while the legal advice I received made it clear there was a case to be argued, I’m focused on the future, my whānau and concentrating on what’s important,” she said in a statement.
She was convicted and ordered to pay a fine of $300 and $5296 reparation.
Allan has been contacted for comment in relation to today’s story.
Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.
