NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Police Commissioner grilled over Roast Busters

By Isaac Davison & Anna Leask
NZ Herald·
11 Dec, 2013 04:30 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Peter Marshall spoke at Parliament yesterday. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Peter Marshall spoke at Parliament yesterday. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Police response to rape allegations 'should have been sharper', commissioner concedes to MPs' panel

The Police Commissioner has been grilled by MPs over the handling of the Roast Busters rape allegations, conceding it should have been "sharper".

And Commissioner Peter Marshall revealed he welcomed Police Minister Anne Tolley's requesting an Independent Police Conduct Authority investigation into the now high-profile saga.

Police have been investigating a group of teenage boys known as the Roast Busters since 2011, when a 13-year-old girl made a formal complaint against some of them.

Online, some of the boys had bragged about having sex with drunk and underage girls.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Yesterday, Mr Marshall was grilled by a select committee in Wellington about the police response to the case.

Asked for his assessment of the police response, the commissioner said: "Certainly, the situation involving the initial response - that there hadn't been a complaint and then we found there had been a complaint - was something that we should have been sharper on in terms of communication.

"That excited, naturally, the members of the public, and we accept that."

The Roast Busters investigation is ongoing and is now being led by Detective Inspector Karyn Malthus, who has experience in dealing with sexual abuse cases involving young people.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Waitemata police spokeswoman Beth Bates said no specific information could be released about the investigation.

Joseph Parker and Beraiah Hales are members of the Roast Busters.
Joseph Parker and Beraiah Hales are members of the Roast Busters.

"The investigation is progressing well and our focus is still on speaking to a number of girls," she said.

"It continues to be a very delicate investigation with a great deal of care required, and the privacy of the girls and their families is paramount."

Police Minister Anne Tolley referred the Roast Busters case to the Independent Police Conduct Authority, which is now investigating whether police botched the handling of the case or conducted a thorough and appropriate inquiry, as they maintain.

Discover more

New Zealand|crime

Roast Busters: March against violence

24 Nov 04:17 AM
New Zealand

Metro apologises for rape 'joke'

30 Nov 04:30 PM
Opinion

Paul Little: Time for feminist tide to turn

08 Dec 12:51 AM
New Zealand

Roast Busters: Marshall admits failings

11 Dec 04:32 AM

The authority has said it is "unable to comment on timeframes or specific details of the case".

Ms Tolley's request was unprecedented - but Mr Marshall said he welcomed it. He maintained the integrity of the investigation was sound, but the communication of the information to the public was not up to scratch.

"I look forward to the report," he said. "We're just focused on the investigation."

Labour police spokeswoman Jacinda Ardern, who led the questions yesterday, was pleased with Mr Marshall's response.

"When these kinds of situations arise, the public makes as much of a judgment over the handling of it as they do the issue itself," she said last night.

"And in this case there certainly were failings, and the Commissioner has acknowledged that."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Ms Ardern was confident the police were doing their best to resolve the case.

At the select committee yesterday Ms Ardern pointed to a drop in public confidence in the police since the Roast Busters case, which a survey showed had fallen from 82 per cent to 76 per cent.

But Mr Marshall defended this record, saying that the survey often fluctuated, had a margin of error of 3 per cent, and was roughly the same as this time last year.

The commissioner, who will soon finish his tenure, said the case was not a blot on his legacy because crime and road deaths had dropped steadily under his watch.

"I'm very bullish about what police have achieved, I think the New Zealand public is well served by this place."

• Nov 3: Videos of boys in the Roast Busters group show them laughing and bragging about having sex with drunk and underage girls.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

• Police say they have known about the group since 2011 but could not do anything until a girl was "brave enough" to make a formal complaint.

• Nov 6: A 15-year-old girl comes forward to say she laid a formal complaint to police two years ago - when she was 13. Police later confirm this is true. Labour calls for an independent review into the police's handling of the matter.

• Nov 7: After calls for action, Police Minister Anne Tolley announces that the Independent Police Conduct Authority will investigate.

• Nov 16: Nationwide protests take place, with hundreds calling for an end to the country's "rape culture".

• Nov 17: A girl who says she made a complaint to police two years ago reveals she has made a second complaint after the Roast Busters scandal.

• Nov 21: A petition is presented to MPs outside Parliament with more than 110,000 signatures calling for more action for the victims of the Roast Busters.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

Revealed: The first four housing projects backed by $100m fund

22 Jun 06:00 PM
New Zealand

Guardian patrols extend to Rotorua Central mall

22 Jun 06:00 PM
Opinion

The Conversation: Austerity politics and the real cost of 'savings' in schools

22 Jun 06:00 PM

Help for those helping hardest-hit

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Revealed: The first four housing projects backed by $100m fund

Revealed: The first four housing projects backed by $100m fund

22 Jun 06:46 PM

It will enable 65 homes in Tauranga South, Pāpāmoa, Greerton and Bethlehem.

Guardian patrols extend to Rotorua Central mall

Guardian patrols extend to Rotorua Central mall

22 Jun 06:46 PM
The Conversation: Austerity politics and the real cost of 'savings' in schools

The Conversation: Austerity politics and the real cost of 'savings' in schools

22 Jun 06:00 PM
'Scale of need': NZ commits $16m to Ukraine as conflict endures

'Scale of need': NZ commits $16m to Ukraine as conflict endures

22 Jun 05:56 PM
How a Timaru mum of three budding chefs stretched her grocery shop
sponsored

How a Timaru mum of three budding chefs stretched her grocery shop

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP