1. Did your sense of justice kick in from a young age?
I think it's fair to say that I was a late developer in that respect. I didn't have too many interests at school other than sport. That really didn't change when I went to university. It wasn't until I started working that those sorts of interests were stirred. And a sense of ambition also emerged in my early 20s that wasn't there when I was younger.
2. Why did you leave the police?
I loved it - it's a fantastic job - but about a year before I left, I had an experience that left me questioning my place there. I was involved in an off-duty incident with one of my fellow detectives and as a result there was a brief period where I was suspended. I don't want to go into details, it was a fairly innocuous thing, it involved socialising outside of work hours. It was reviewed and there was a legal opinion received that we hadn't done anything wrong in a criminal sense, much to the frustration of one or two people. But the experience was enlightening, it made me realise that it can be a very lonely and vulnerable place when it's suggested that you've done something wrong when you haven't. You feel that the world is against you and you desperately look for support.
3. When did you first become interested in the case of Teina Pora?
Back in 2000, after he was convicted at his second trial, I heard one or two of my police colleagues express dismay and the very clear view that he was innocent and should never have been charged, let alone convicted. Over the following years I completed a masters degree in criminology and a proportion of that was on the psychology of crime and false confessions. From time to time I would reflect on Teina's case. Teina believed he was being offered a $20,000 reward and indemnity from prosecution [if he confessed]. I mean, he'd spent a year with his family telling the world that he'd done it. And one of the symptoms of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder [which Pora has since been diagnosed with] is a desire or an eagerness to please people in authority.
4. What made you decide to get involved in the case?
In 2009 I was diagnosed with a rare blood condition and that changed the way I look at things, I guess. It's manageable at the moment but it has forced me to consider my own mortality. That's what pushed me toward making contact with Teina. I went to see him in Spring Hill Prison. We were both wary of each other. He was much younger and smaller in stature than I'd imagined. I was surprised by his lack of bitterness, but also a steely determination to see his case reviewed. The first 10 years of his incarceration he had almost no visitors. He was left to rot.
