Jury clears Whangārei police officer Taylor Morgan in alleged assault case

Morgan was pursuing Mathew Sinclair through Mangroves behind Kōtata Rise in Whangārei. Photo / NZME

A police officer who has stood trial twice for an alleged assault on a person being placed under arrest has been found not guilty.

Taylor Morgan initially stood trial at the Whangārei District Court in September 2024 for one charge of assault with a blunt instrument following an arrest that left Mathew Sinclair with head injuries.

But after that jury reached a hung verdict, a new trial was ordered which began last week.

The incident occurred in January 2023 after Morgan, constable Hayden Waetford and officer Joshua Van Der Kwaak pursued Sinclair and found him lying in the mangroves off Kōtata Rise.

It was the Crown case during the arrest, Morgan punched Sinclair once and then allegedly struck him to the head with a 40mm sponge round launcher.

“You will hear from Waetford about the way [Morgan] held the launcher using two hands, striking [Sinclair] over the head in a way that was no accident,” Danica Soich told the jury in her opening statements.

But it was the defence case, the launcher had swung from Taylor’s shoulder and hit Sinclair in the head accidentally.

“What is the issue in this trial?” Morgan’s lawyer Mathew Ridgley said to the jury.

“There’s been no assault here with the weapon, there’s been no intentional application of force with a weapon. There’s going to be no dispute during this arrest Mr Sinclair suffered an injury.

“The issue from the defendant is how did that injury occur? In what circumstances?”

After hearing similar evidence as the first trial, including from constable Waetford, the jury decided the crown had not proved their case beyond reasonable doubt and found Morgan not guilty.

Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.