Gisborne five furious over police compo

By SCOTT INGLIS

Five policemen cleared of drug and corruption charges are furious the senior detectives who led the inquiry into them have been paid compensation.

The officers believe it is wrong the pair were paid after the case ended with all the charges thrown out of court and their careers ruined.

Sergeant Barry Woon, Constables Greg Lexmond, Brent Adamson, Regan Horsfall and former officer Dave Neilson were reacting to a Weekend Herald article which revealed that the two detectives were paid after claiming they had been made scapegoats.

Detective Chief Inspector Rex Miller, now retired, and Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Whitehead were paid $50,000 between them after filing personal grievance claims against the Police Commissioner.

They led an inquiry which resulted in the five Gisborne policemen being charged in connection with supplying cannabis to the Mongrel Mob.

The inquiry, dubbed Operation Vine, cost more than $1 million and soaked up 8547 man hours. It began early in 1997 but by the year's end all 32 charges against the officers had been dismissed. The five were reportedly paid $250,000 between them in compensation and received an apology.

Judge Russell Callander, who later investigated the police inquiry, found it fatally flawed, with the investigators failing to interview numerous witnesses, prejudging the five guilty and influencing assessment of evidence.

The Weekend Herald learned that Mr Miller and Detective Senior Sergeant Whitehead alleged their careers had been tarnished and that they lacked support from superiors.

They felt they unfairly took the blame when others made the final decision to lay charges.

They also complained that an incorrect version of Judge Callander's report had been leaked from police national headquarters.

But Sergeant Woon, spokesman for the cleared officers, told the Herald they were angry and believed neither Mr Miller nor Detective Senior Sergeant Whitehead deserved payment.

He said the five policemen were "all bitter. It's just something you can't get over. They just couldn't believe it."

Sergeant Woon, a detective sergeant in Gisborne but now in Tauranga, believed while the two senior men did not make the final decision, that decision would have been based on their information and guidance.

On the leaked, incorrect version of Judge Callander's report, Sergeant Woon said the difference between that version and the one actually released had no bearing on Mr Miller or Detective Senior Sergeant Whitehead.

The constables are also still serving officers but despite support from rank and file colleagues, all four feel their careers have been wrecked.

"It's a real kick in the guts ... for all of us."

Sergeant Woon, who had faced 15 charges, said policing used to be a career to him and at one stage he aimed to be a detective senior sergeant. But now it was just a job which helped pay a mortgage and support his family.