Kevin Burke stands in the dock, accused of sex crimes. Photo / Dean Purcell
Kevin Burke stands in the dock, accused of sex crimes. Photo / Dean Purcell
A letter of praise about a top cop authored by a woman who now accuses him of sexual assault has been unearthed.
The woman, whose name is suppressed by law, is one of two women accusing Detective Inspector Kevin Stephen Burke of sexual assault.
Burke, who is based in Northland,denies all four charges he faces and is on trial before a jury in the High Court at Auckland.
The woman returned to court to give evidence on the letter after earlier this week denying being romantically involved with either Burke or a conman he was investigating.
In a letter, dated January 11, 2002 and addressed to the police commissioner, she praised Burke - she explained to the court it felt "fantastic" to be believed.
The woman said in her letter that the man – later revealed to be a fraudster – whom she "had been seeing for the previous four months" was not the person she believed him to be.
The conman told her he divorced his wife after his daughter died tragically. The woman was also led to believe he was a property developer, she wrote.
But that was not the case and he rummaged through her files at her home and stole money from her, the letter continued.
