Police are investigating a Christchurch detective who had a sexual relationship with a rape complainant over allegations he inappropriately accessed her case file.
The fresh probe into Detective Constable Luke Fazackerley follows a referral from the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA), which will oversee the investigation into the officer’s searches of crime databases.
Fazackerley and Alex McPhail met in November 2023 when she made a rape complaint to Christchurch police.
McPhail, then 22, went on to have an intimate relationship with Fazackerley, which she alleged became sexual as soon as the then 30-year-old officer was removed from her case. She later informed police about the matter and also complained to the IPCA.
The complainant says she was told by the IPCA in August that a fresh investigation into Fazackerley related to him allegedly accessing her file and viewing her police interview after he was removed from her case.
“It made me feel quite sick,” McPhail told the Herald.
“If he was accessing all of my private information, that would make it very easy for him to emotionally manipulate me. It kind of felt like he knew everything about me and I knew nothing about him.”
Canterbury District Commander Superintendent Tony Hill this week confirmed police were investigating allegations that McPhail’s case file was accessed inappropriately.
Hill said police take privacy very seriously and hold staff to account if inappropriate access to databases has occurred.
Fazackerley, who police said remains employed in the force, did not respond to a request for comment.
Since the IPCA began examining McPhail’s complaint, police have carried out an audit on Fazackerley’s searches and determined further investigation was required, according to an IPCA document seen by the Herald.
“I understand police have contacted you to let you know the name of the person investigating your complaint and will report the outcome directly to you,” IPCA assurance manager Andrew MacNeil said in a letter to McPhail in August.
McPhail told the Herald this week that she had been interviewed by the IPCA over Fazackerley’s alleged searches.
“They were very shocked to hear about my entire situation.”
McPhail was initially told by IPCA this year that the sexual relationship she had with Fazackerley had already been addressed by a police employment process.
However, after Herald reporting on the matter, the IPCA reopened her complaint against the detective and has since determined his search history required further investigation.
While it said the detective’s alleged searches warranted further investigation, the IPCA found there was no misconduct or neglect of duty in police internal processes after McPhail disclosed her intimate relationship with Fazackerley.
MacNeil acknowledged McPhail was unhappy with the method and outcome of the initial employment investigation but said the authority could not intervene in that process.
“We can only review the process itself. The authority is satisfied that the employment process was appropriate,” he said.
McPhail told the Herald she was frustrated the IPCA hadn’t found issues with the police handling of her complaint.
“What’s the purpose of their code of conduct if they can just violate it with no consequences? How can we have police officers enforcing the law when they can’t even follow their own code of conduct?”
The New Zealand Police code of conduct states staff must not enter into a sexual or intimate relationship with someone they meet in a professional capacity, if an imbalance of power exists or if that person is vulnerable.
“[In] still having him employed, they’re saying that this behaviour is okay,” McPhail said.
This year McPhail, a 24-year-old flight attendant, chose to go public about how having an intimate relationship with the detective had affected her.
“I’m not ashamed of being a rape survivor, and I’m not ashamed that I was taken advantage of by a detective investigating my case,” she said at the time.
“I have to be the change that I want to see in the world.”
Fazackerley was due to start work with the Queensland Police Service (QPS) this year. However, after Herald inquiries, the agency said his job offer had been withdrawn “while the matter is under investigation”.
When asked this week whether Fazackerley would still be joining the force, QPS declined to comment, citing privacy reasons.
Katie Harris is an Auckland-based journalist who covers issues including sexual assault, workplace misconduct, media, crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2020.
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