Police authority backs Sounds murder investigation

Ben Smart and Olivia Hope. Photo / Supplied

The Independent Police Conduct Authority has supported the integrity of the police investigation of the disappearance and murders of Ben Smart and Olivia Hope in the Marlborough Sounds on New Year's Eve 1997.

But an IPCA report released this evening says the police made some mistakes.

The complaints were made by journalist Keith Hunter and Chris Watson, the father of Scott Watson who was jailed for the murders.

Authority chairwoman Justice Lowell Goddard said today that apart from three aspects that had no significant bearing on the outcome of the investigation, the police Operation Tam was conducted "reasonably and rationally" and the police officers who led it remained open-minded throughout.

- NZPA