Officer describes moment of cop shooting to court

Sergeant Don Wilkinson. Photo / Supplied

A police officer who was at the scene where an undercover officer was shot dead in 2008 says there was an element of risk involved that night.

The officer, who has name suppression and is known as Officer W, told an Auckland High Court jury today that police had to consider a degree of risk, otherwise they would never get any work done.

Officer W was in Mangere on September 11, 2008, with Sergeant Don Wilkinson and another officer with name suppression, known as Officer M, as they were trying to install a tracking device on a vehicle as part of a drugs operation.

Mr Wilkinson was shot with an airgun by John Skinner, 38, as he and Iain Clegg, 36, chased after them. Skinner and Clegg are on trial in the High Court at Auckland charged with the murder of Mr Wilkinson and the attempted murder of his colleague.

Skinner also faces a charge of assault with a firearm.

Kevin Brosnahan, defending Skinner, asked Officer W if he accepted that the presence of a vehicle not normally associated with the address would present an increased risk to the situation.

"We assessed the situation and made as rational and educated decision as we could," Officer W said. Mr Brosnahan suggested that there was a serious potential risk involved that night.

"In terms of being on someone's property in the dark, acting in a stealthy manner, it's easy to imagine there was serious potential risk involved," he said.

Officer W said the risk was there and it was calculated. He also described the moment when his colleague, who also has name suppression and is known as Officer M, was shot.

"He said he had been hit over the head, he'd been shot and he said the bastards had kicked him in the balls.

"Then he told me to worry about Sergeant Wilkinson instead because he was alright," Officer W said.

Officer W, who has been with the police technical support unit for 21 years, said Officer M put on a stab-resistant body armour suit but he and Sergeant Wilkinson did not.

"It's very hot, it's very bulky and if you're trying to do covert duties it's quite detectable if you're trying to work in confined spaces," Officer W said.

"It's an issue for the police department and it's a shame to bring it out in this arena but it's something that has to be addressed."

The officers went to the scene and Officer W waited outside Skinner's address as Officer M and Mr Wilkinson went inside the fence line. They knew the address had outdoor sensor lights and Officer W recalled seeing them activated by his colleagues.

He recalled a man coming out the front door saying something like "hey you, what the f*** are you up to?"

Officer W said he then told his officers through his radio to "f***ing hoof it". Mr Wilkinson and Officer M were shot in a driveway in a neighbouring street soon afterwards.

Crown prosecutor Simon Moore SC said Skinner and Clegg were guilty of murdering Mr Wilkinson and attempting to murder his colleague as they intended to either kill them or cause them serious harm they knew could be fatal.

Ms Dyhrberg said her client thought the policemen were intruders and reacted to that. Self-defence would also be raised as an issue, Ms Dyhrberg said.

Clegg's lawyer, Stuart Grieve QC, said his client did not kill Mr Wilkinson and did not attempt to kill Mr Wilkinson's colleague. Mr Grieve said Clegg acted on his own when he pursued the two men he thought were burglars, and did not know anything about what Skinner was going to do.

He said Clegg's only action was to hit Mr Wilkinson's colleague with his fist before Skinner came from behind him and to one side and then fired the shots.

The trial before Justice Geoffrey Venning is in its third day and is expected to last three weeks.

- NZPA