Night in the cells after court errors

Holly Aileen Rolfe was detained unlawfully. Photo / Thinkstock

A woman was unlawfully detained overnight by police because of a court "procedural error" when issuing an arrest warrant.

Holly Aileen Rolfe, 28, appeared in Napier District Court on Wednesday on a charge of driving a motor vehicle while forbidden, after having spent the previous night in police custody.

The duty solicitor representing Rolfe on the day asked for the matter to be heard before the court lunch break as a matter of urgency because it was a case of "unlawful detention".

The Ministry of Justice confirmed yesterday there had been a procedural error when issuing a warrant to arrest Rolfe for not appearing in court on the previous day.

"The court made a procedural error when issuing the warrant for arrest," the spokesperson said.

"The mistake is regretted and we are looking into what happened.

"However, we note the judge took all of this into account when sentencing the defendant the next day."

Judge Jonathan Down entered Rolfe's conviction, but imposed no penalty given she had spent the night in police custody.

Eric Forster, a lawyer who specialises in similar cases, said it was unlikely Rolfe was eligible for compensation according to the existing legislation.

"There has been different interpretations of it over time, but what it says is just there is if there is a warrant the Crown can't be sued, and the people acting in exercise of that warrant have immunity," he said.

"There is no guarantee you would get compensation, in fact it is unlikely."

Yesterday a police spokesperson for the Eastern District said they received the warrant to arrest Rolfe on February 25 and she was found in the early hours of the following day.

"After confirming her identity, she was arrested based on the warrant issued by the court, in line with our normal process.

"She was held in custody at the Napier police station until she could be transferred to the Napier District Court later that same day."