Police called to mayor Michael Laws' home

Wanganui Mayor Michael Laws outside his home yesterday. Photo / Bradley Ambrose

The partner of controversial Wanganui Mayor Michael Laws has moved out after he called police to their home.

The Radio Live talkback host is living apart from partner Leonie Brookhammer but says he still loves her and they are raising their three children together.

The Herald on Sunday has learned that Laws called police to the couple's Wanganui home in mid-January.

He last night refused to explain why, but the city's police area commander Inspector Duncan McLeod said it was classified as a "domestic attendance" and the matter is not before the courts.

"There was a review of our attendance by our family violence coordinator to make sure our policies were adhered to and nothing further came of that."

McLeod said the police officer attending would have carried out an arrest if he had witnessed any law being broken.

"The initial call came from Mr Laws himself. We have attended at the address on several occasions but not always on matters of this nature.

"There's been a number of other things have have gone on over the years in the time I have been here but I won't be going into details of those ones.

"I have spoken to the officer and he has categorically informed me that no violence occurred in front of him. For the majority of the time, the two parties were separated by some distance."

The couple separated in April last year after seven years together. The move came amid intense family pressure after their daughter Lucy was diagnosed with leukaemia.

While Lucy recovered, Brookhammer moved to a house nearby with the couple's other children, Ella and Noah.

The couple announced their reunion six months ago in Woman's Day.

Laws told the magazine that the couple's earlier decision to separate had been made calmly, but "loud and very emotional" arguments followed when it come to working out the details.

Yesterday he said the couple were still in a relationship, even though they had decided to live apart. And he rejected any suggestion there had been an "incident of domestic violence".

"If I call the police to my house it is because I require their assistance or their involvement in a matter where I believe either my house or the safety of my children is at risk. And that has happened at least once a year since I have been there."

After being told of McLeod's statement, Laws refused to say why he had called police in mid-January. He said: "That is an entirely private and personal matter but it did not involve a case of domestic violence. I want you to be very, very clear about that.

"It is an intensely private and personal matter that involves me only in the sense of wishing the best. It has nothing to do with how I perform my public duties."

Laws said he would be "very surprised" if police had classified the call as a "domestic attendance" and that the file had been reviewed by the family violence co-ordinator.

But he said police had been to his house four times in five years: "I've had damage and threats to personal property and life on this house."

He said the only incident made public was a rock thrown through a front window.

"The psychological damage that it effected upon my partner and my family was significant. It continues to this day in fact, if the truth be known, particularly on Leonie.

"The primary reason we are living apart is to ensure Leonie feels safe from the kind of events that have occurred.

"It has been very difficult for her and I don't feel quite the same way she does.

"People react differently to different kinds of stress and Leonie has been under a significant amount of stress for the past couple of years and particularly to do with the nature of Lucy's illness as well. I have been 100 per cent supportive of her and I love her."

He said he and Leonie have an excellent relationship and were dedicated to bringing up their children. "We have lived apart on many occasions. One of the things we have been thinking about doing for a long time is purchasing houses alongside each other. That is our preferred intent."

Laws said the couple worked unsociable hours and living apart reduced the disruption. Asked if the couple still planned to marry, he said: "When the election [this year] is over, everything is possible.

"I love and I will continue to love and I will continue to support the people that are worthy of it. And I love my family."

Brookhammer declined to comment.

The incident has brought demands for Laws to step down from the mayoralty. Mayoral aspirant Dave Feickert said: "Sadly, we [Wanganui] are a laughing stock. We are a kind of Michael Laws soap opera.

"What it throws up is whether the Mayor might need to sort out his personal life and put a bit of energy into that and give the city administration a rest for a while. In other words, stand down."

The life of Laws
* Michael Laws, 53, was born in Wairoa and grew up in Wanganui.
* He attended Otago and Victoria Universities and became politically active supporting the 1981 Springbok tour.
* Laws worked for the National Party as a researcher before being elected National MP for Hawke's Bay in 1990 and 1993. He followed Winston Peters to New Zealand First in 1996 but quit as an MP that year after claims he misled his leader.
* He joined Radio Pacific as a host and stayed on when it became Radio Live. He was also involved in Intrepid Journeys, Celebrity Treasure Island and Dancing with the Stars.
* In 2006, he called the dead Tongan King "a bloated, brown slug" and was prosecuted later that year for breaching a suppression order.
* He was elected Wanganui mayor in 2004 and re-elected in 2007.