Wannabe private eye fined, reprimanded and has security guard approvals cancelled

Shane Casbolt was discharged without conviction for possession of an offensive weapon. Photo / Supplied

Wannabe private investigator Shane Casbolt has been fined and told to hand in his identity badge by the security industry licensing body.

Casbolt this month avoided a conviction for possessing an offensive weapon after trying to enter the Christchurch Courthouse wearing a stab-proof vest and an extendable baton.

He also had a canister resembling the pepper spray carried by police, and a New Zealand coat of arms on his made-up uniform.

A charge of impersonating police was withdrawn after Judge Gerard Lynch said in the Christchurch District Court that no one would have believed he was a serving officer.

Judge Lynch also discharged Casbolt without conviction on the weapon charge – for the baton, bought from a martial arts store – after his lawyer argued that it might affect his Certificate of Authority (COA) to work in the security industry.

However, the Private Security Personnel Licensing Authority will sanction Casbolt anyway, saying his behaviour was misconduct and “bordered on the fraudulent”.

Casbolt did not attend an online hearing of the authority last Friday, which found that he had been working as a private investigator under the name Canterbury Investigations Services without the required licence.

Casbolt had a COA to work as a crowd controller, personal guard or property guard, but had been declined a private investigator’s licence by the authority.

“Mr Casbolt’s actions were not a result of naivety or ignorance, as he was aware of the authority’s licensing requirement but chose not to follow them,” authority member, Trish McConnell, said in her decision.

“Mr Casbolt intentionally inflated his own importance in the way he presented himself and in doing so flouted the rules and requirements that apply to all security workers,” she said.

“I consider his conduct was wilful and bordered on the fraudulent.”

McConnell cancelled Casbolt’s COA to work in all the classes he held.

She also formally reprimanded him and fined him $500.

When Casbolt applied for his security certificates in 2020, he gave his occupation as “ambulance officer”.

Previously, he has tried to set up a free street medical service. During the trial he told of working as a security guard, investigator and process server.