Detective accused of lying under oath

Press, 12 February 1986, Page 23

Detective accused of lying under oath

PA Auckland The police officer in charge of a drugs surveillance operation lied while giving evidence under oath in a jury trial, the High Court at Auckland was told on Monday. The officer, a detective, now retired from the police had his name suppressed by Mr Justice Hillyer at the start of the trial. The former policeman pleaded not guilty to a charge that he knowingly made a false statement intending to mislead the jury during the trial held in the District Court at Auckland in October, 1984.

In his opening address, Mr John Laurenson, prosecuting, said that as a

result of the operation police and customs officers searched the Papatoetoe home of Gregory Michael Rose and his wife, Shannon Agnes Rose, and found cannabis and cocaine concealed behind a trapdoor in a walk-in wardrobe. Before the couple’s trial started, Gregory Rose pleaded guilty to the can-nabis-related charge and the trial went ahead with Shannon Rose pleading not guilty to possessing cannabis for supply. During the trial, Mr Laurenson said, a question arose over whether there was a piece of hardboard over the trapdoor.

The accused was asked to check with the customs

officer who searched the wardrobe and found the drugs because the issue had become important to the case, said Mr Laurenson.

The accused later gave false evidence, saying the customs officer was on leave and could not be contacted, he said. A friend of the Roses present at the trial made his own inquiries and found the officer was available. Mr Laurenson said that during the time of the trial the accused was in the early stages of a nervous breakdown. During the subsequent police investigation into his actions the breakdown developed to the stage where he could no longer serve in the police.