The serious crimes that Police won’t prosecute.
If the punishment is 14 years in prison, you’d think that Police would take the crime seriously, wouldn’t you?
Category 4 offences are the most serious of offences, which are tried in the High Court, often before a jury. Treason, murder, manslaughter, torture and terrorism offences, etc. The punishment for espionage, slavery, attempted murder, and judicial corruption is 14 years in prison. For sabotage, infanticide, mutiny, and conspiracy to murder it is 10 years in prison. Corrupting a Minister or Member of Parliament is 7 years in prison.
Any offence that isn't listed as Category 4 that carries with it a punishment of more than 2 years in prison is Category 3. Aggravated robbery carries with it a punishment of 14 years in prison, for robbery it is 10 years in prison, threatening to kill 7 years, indecent assault 7 years, assault with intent to injure is 3 years, and aggravated assault is also 3 years in prison.
Compare this with the punishments for misleading justice:
False statements (s111) - 3 years;
Fabricating evidence (s114) - 7 years;
Conspiring to defeat justice (s116) - 7 years;
Perjury (s109) - 7-14 years; and
Conspiring to bring false accusation (s115) - 7-14 years.
Ordinarily, the length of sentence indicates the severity of the crime compared to other crimes. Also, the length of sentence should act as a deterrent. Take, for instance, s115 of the Crimes Act 1961:
This section of the Act should send a strong signal that the punishment for making a false accusation is more serious than the offence that was falsely alleged. The legislative intent couldn't have been clearer.
I would learn from an early age that the Police were reluctant to investigate the misleading of justice, often implicating themselves.
"It's Grant beats time!"
Friday 3 December 1993 was my last day of high school. Immediately following the final meeting between prefects and the rector (principal) William Graham Smith, three prefects – Troy Ackerman, Leigh Broderick, and Peter Long – bee-lined for the senior common room, locked the doors, and then beat me to a pulp while several egged them on, including Matt Harrison.
One of their accomplices was class idiot Matthew Parsons. Parsons had dreams of joining the army, emblazoning his pencil case with slogans like “Mess with the best, die like the rest.” When I left the common room, several thought that I was heading to the rector’s office, so Parsons intercepted me and the other prefects followed.
Trying to drag me away from the direction of the rector’s office, Parsons strangled me so I couldn’t be heard. I used my key ring – a Swiss Army pocketknife – to free his hand from my neck. I then walked to the rector’s office. Bloodied, bruised, suffering concussion, short of breath, clothing torn, and in shock, I told the rector to ring the police.
The rector knew exactly how serious the incident was. The rector, however, was more concerned with the reputation of the school, especially that the prize giving was about to be held. The prefect who was the ringleader of the two assaults, Troy Ackerman, was about to receive the Dominic Thompson Galatians Trophy, which is an award:
to the student who in the opinion of the staff displays patience, kindness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control.
Broderick and Long were to receive other prizes.
The rector refused to involve the police and instead told the prefects to escort me to the hospital so that I would apologise to my attacker. Bullying me during the drive, I refused to apologise.
I was then locked in the deputy rector’s office during prize giving, then forced to apologize to my year afterwards. I tried to explain what happened but the deputy rector, Jamie Francis, kept interrupting me so to control the narrative.
When I got home, I rang a family friend who was a lawyer. He’d also had experience dealing with the politics of the school. He told me to write down everything that happened and then wait to see what happened next. As I typed up my version of events that evening, empty beer bottles were thrown at my home. I looked out the front window to see Troy Ackerman's mother's Toyota Corrolla and Jonathan Spriggen's light blue ute parked outside. It wouldn't be the last time that I would see the two vehicles together.
My parents were contacted by the rector, who wanted to meet them. The rector, William Graham Smith, and a member of the board of trustees, Dr John Stuart Wakeman, tried to blackmail my parents in exchange for the school to not involve the police. The Parsons wanted $60,000. My parents refused.
Parsons, Ackerman, Smith, and another so-called witness, Jonathan Spriggens, all spent the next couple of days stitching together their false allegations. During the drive with my parents to see my lawyer, we encountered Troy Ackerman driving his mother's car from the direction of Spriggens' home towards the police station. From my lawyer's office, we saw Ackerman and Spriggens park next to each other opposite the police station and chat.
Escorted to the police station by my lawyer, I was charged with assault with a weapon (s202C) and wounding with intent (s189(1)). That offence carried with it a sentence of 10 years in prison. In the waiting room was Spriggens, memorising notes from a piece of paper.
Broderick didn't give a statement to police. He was the one who locked the common room door, threw me off the couch, kicked me in the head, and then sat in my seat. During both incidents, he'd gloated about vandalising my mother's letterbox twice, along with Ackerman and Parsons. The day before prize giving, Broderick and Ackerman delivered a speech at the Leaver's Dinner that joked about property stolen from my home.
Ackerman wouldn't appear in court to speak to his statement. The Crown Prosecutor, however, sought for Ackerman's police statement to be read to the court as evidence. The judge, however, declined that request as my lawyer could not cross-examine Ackerman. Gee, I wonder what questions my lawyer could have asked him?
Broderick, Ackerman, and Peter Long had planned their getaway months ahead. They got as far away as possible, being ambassadors for Lindisfarne College on a gap year to England:
The only 'independent witness' to give evidence describing both attacks was Jonathan Spriggens, who kept lookout at a distance while Parsons strangled me. His brother would become the first XV rugby coach and a senior dean at Lindisfarne College:
I spent the first year at law school on bail. Referred to the Napier High Court, Lester Chisholm (later a judge) sought name suppression for the school on the following grounds:
Name suppression was refused. I had nothing to hide.
During 22 and 23 August 1994, Crown Prosecutor (now Judge) Barbara Morris was fully aware of the common room premeditated attack, trying to avoid any association between that assault and my act of self-defence. She tried to make my use of a pocket knife (which I cut myself trying to open) look like a premeditated and unprovoked attack. During re-examination of complainant Matthew Parsons, she even fed words into his mouth, describing the beatings I received as a "custom", which she described as a “dusting over”:
One witness, however, debunked the "dusting", describing the common room assault as "severe":
Three people gave evidence that Troy Ackerman said, "It's Grant beats time!", including Matthew Parsons:
Although Jonathan Spriggens was the 'star witness' for the prosecution, he stumbled through his examination, saying that he saw things he couldn't have and denying things that happened right in front of him:
Spriggens lied about easily disproven stuff, which inferred that he was part of a conspiracy to bring a false confession:
William Graham Smith admitted to not involving the police and forcing me to apologise to Parsons. He also admitted that his priority was the prize giving.
So, where did the conspiracy originate? William Graham Smith removed this from his Police statement:
The Crown Prosecutor went line-by-line through William Graham Smith's police statement, including that statement:
After that, William Graham Smith had the narrative for everything that followed, claiming that he didn't have any knowledge of the common room assault that happened immediately after his final meeting with prefects. Or did he?
In other words, the rector was aware of the common room beating prior to the trial, conducted an inquiry, and then became 'aware' of the 'custom.' Smith had been rector since 1980. In other words, 14 years!
(The Dean, John McKenzie, and Deputy Rector, Jamie Francis, were both old boys, former head boys, and captains of the First XI cricket and First XV rugby teams. Both had sons or nephews enrolled at the time. Francis' father was a previous rector.)
It also emerged that Parsons had physically threatened a female teacher, but Parsons wasn't punished. The prefects also engaged in a campaign of terror throughout the year, supported by Parsons, Matt Harrison, and Brett Barton. The police fielded complaints of assault, vandalism, stolen cars, assault, and abusive phone calls. Every complaint, however, was instead referred to the school, which wasn’t punished - fuelling an escalation of abuse.
The jury deliberated for fifteen minutes during afternoon tea and returned with a not guilty verdict. I was acquitted.
When thinking of committing a crime, criminals factor in the chances of getting caught and punished. When making a false accusation, the Lindisfarne College hierarchy factored in their established relationship with local police, who they previously relied on to cover up offending.
Damage control
Matthew Parson's Commanding Officer asked for a transcript of the court case:
Parsons was deployed to Bosnia, later joining the Canadian Army. Last time I looked, he was a car salesman in Edmondton, Alberta.
The two local newspapers extensively covered the trial.
Lindisfarne College went into damage control.
During my final year at the high school, the school bought a second-hand Japanese import minibus and trailer. The school crest was hand painted on the front doors. Reverend Bill Lindsay organised a ceremony after chapel where all the school’s pupils linked hands around the newly acquired vehicle to bless it.
Following my trial, Lindisfarne College purchased three new large minibuses and emblazoned them with digital livery on all sides, advertising the school’s ‘Four Cornerstones’ of Academic Excellence, Sporting Endeavour, Cultural Participation, and Christian Dimension. There was no ceremonial ‘blessing’ of the vehicles. Despite no prior mention of the purchase of the new minibuses, the 1994 Chairman’s Report in the Chronicle stated:
“Last year I referred to our minibus fleet and as promised we replaced our oldest vehicle and increased the total from three to minibuses to five.”
The new school library was then named after William Graham Smith and a new school block after Jamie Francis' family:
It later emerged that my mother was targeted by the group but William Graham Smith had blackmailed my mother to not take her complaints any further. My parents were recently separated and my mother worked next door to Lindisfarne Collage at Hastings Girls High School. Despite receiving a barrage of abusive phonecalls - including one from Matthew Parsons - William Graham Smith told my mother that she risked losing her employment if she involved the police.
What initiated the blackmail was an incident where my car was stolen in February 1993 on school grounds by the same three prefects involved in the assault on the last day of school. Broderick, Parsons, Ackerman, and Long took my car for a joyride and returned it in a mess and missing items. The dean, Ross Barry, created an alternative narrative to defend the group's actions, trying to blackmail me that he'd tell my mother that I lent my car to someone else. When I told my mother, William Graham Smith then tried to blackmail her.
The fear that William Graham Smith instilled in my mother factored into her request for name suppression:
Something was very 'off' about my mother's behaviour. Immediately after I was acquitted, my mother insisted that I shake hands with Matthew Parsons. She then said that I could "put it all behind" me. My father asked my mother, "What is wrong with you?"
My mother then insisted that I meet with Graham Smith in his office. Graham Smith didn't offer any apology or show any remorse, instead trying to distance himself and the school from what happened. Avoiding eye contact with me, he instead stared at my mother. On the drive home, I was furious with my mother, to which she eventually revealed that Graham Smith had been blackmailing her.
I then met with my lawyer. He wanted to sue the school. My mother begged him not to.
I then took the trial transcript to the Hastings Police Station and lodged a complaint, which was ignored.
There is no doubt that William Graham Smith thought that he had everything under control, acting with criminal intent. Prefects could rely on their rector to keep them from being held responsible for their actions.
Can you imagine what would have happened if the rector had followed my instructions to ring the police? The school would have become a crime scene outside the venue of prize giving, the police would have seen the wounds on my neck and body, the police would have spent the afternoon of prize giving interviewing witnesses, and prefects would have been arrested. My mother, who worked next door, would have ensured that the Police did their job properly. Instead, the Police allowed more serious crimes to be committed.
If I hadn't hospitalised an attacker, what 'narrative' would Lindisfarne College had conjured up? How could they defend the "clearly defined linear burn-type lesions on both sides of [my] neck" that several people, including a doctor, witnessed?
Over the years, more stories of abuse at Lindisfarne College and similar cases at other schools would surface. Being told to "put it all behind me", I felt that something needed to be done about it.
The Royal Commission into Abuse in Care
During the rest of William Graham Smith's tenure as rector, Lindisfarne College was run in to the ground. Enrolments had plummeted and the buildings became a death trap. The school applied to become state integrated, needing a seven year work programme to bring the facilities up to the standard expected of a state school. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education allowed the 'special character' of the school to continue, approving an enrolment scheme that favoured the sons of old boys and staff. Shortly after, Smith, Francis, and McKenzie left.
I graduated from university in 1999. Lindisfarne College, however, claimed credit for my success in the old boys magazine, despite me handing back my old boys tie in 1994 and asking that the school never contact me again. My graduate job was working in Parliament as a researcher for Richard Prebble. During my time there, Saint Stephens College was closed. For all the reasons why the school was closed - the incidents of bullying, the state of the school facilities, and falling enrolments - I couldn't help but make comparisons with Lindisfarne College.
I discovered that the environment in Act was just as bad as Lindisfarne. Donna Awatere Huata defrauded taxpayers money, using money meant for underprivileged kids to instead send her kids to Lindisfarne College's sister school, Iona College (and a stomach stapling operation.) I certainly made sure that the party was aware of it, but the party apparatus covered it up for as long as politically convenient. The party then hired a drug manufacturer and dealer - Graham Watson - as the Act Party Manager. He'd turn up to work paranoid, bully me, and sabotage my work. When the party leader and president failed miserably to deal with the toxic environment, I quit.
I returned to Hawke's Bay to run a National Party campaign. Meanwhile, the region was reeling with the revelations at the trial of the head boy and other senior Taradale High School pupils who sexually assaulted a fellow pupil with a broomstick. The modus operandi hit a little close to home for me, but I was relieved that something was actually being done about bullying. The local paper, familiar with what happened to me, asked for comment:
Days after that article was published, a note appeared in my letterbox from William Graham Smith attached to the most recent copy of the Lindisfarne Chronicle. I had only recently moved to Hawke's Bay and where I lived wasn't publicly available information. The note didn't make any admission or apology for his failings. Instead, he simply said that he saw the article, he knew that my mother had died, and that he was still involved with the Lindisfarne community. I showed the note to my family and friends, who all agreed that the purpose of the note was to intimidate me.
On 1 February 2018, the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care was announced. On 12 November 2018, the terms of reference was extended, being renamed "Royal Commission into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-Based Institutions." Lindisfarne College, which is a Presbyterian institution, came under its scope.
With Lindisfarne College out of my mind for almost 20 years, I did some research. Bullying and lawlessness was not only still a problem but those who bullied me had enrolled their sons at the school. After I registered with the Royal Commission, an investigator told me that the number of people who registered as survivors of abuse at Lindisfarne College was "double digits."
After giving the Royal Commission a brief of what happened to me, they assigned a lawyer to help me prepare my statement. After reading the first draft of my statement to the Commission, the lawyer disclosed that she was the sister-in-law to one of the abusers mentioned in my Royal Commission statement. That abuser remained close friends with other abusers mentioned in my statement who also had sons at Lindisfarne College. It was quite jarring, thinking that the school had been tipped off.
Sue Petricevic was then assigned. Petricevic is an articulate barrister and a former Crown prosecutor. Prior to that, she was best known as the forensic pathologist who, on 22 February 2002, matched the DNA of Jules Mikus with the 19 June 1987 rape and murder of six-year-old Napier schoolgirl, Teresa Cormack. When Petricevic looked through the evidence given at my trial, there were strong grounds for a prosecution. She helped me prepare a police complaint.
On 14 May 2021, I lodged the police complaint at the Auckland Central Police Station with the Operation Beverly Taskforce. The Auckland Central Police entered my complaint into NIA as “1653 - Common Assault (Manually)” and “1748 – Blackmail” and described me as the “Victim.” There was no mention of the obvious conspiracy to bring false accusations, which was obviously the most serious of offences committed against me.
What happened to me at Lindisfarne College would be used as a template by political activists to re-traumatise me, knowing how the police would treat the situation.
"The Police will believe me!"
Jordan Williams is a Lindisfarne old boy, who maintains contact with the community. I have known him since he was a toddler. He is also regarded by many as the worst offender in Nicky Hager's book Dirty Politics. Described as "manipulative", a "political sadist" and like "a venomous spider", he abused his sexual relationship with Rachel MacGregor in order to obtain damaging information about political rival, Colin Craig, in a botched attempt to take over the party. For a barrister and solicitor, his giggling, smirking, foul language and other disgraceful conduct during the Colin Craig and Matt Blomfield defamation cases should have got him disbarred.
Louis Houlbrooke was the president of the Act youth wing, became David Seymour's press secretary, then the Taxpayers' Union Campaign Manager, and is back as Act's Senior Press Secretary.
Louis' mother, Beth Houlbrooke, was the Act Party Manager, Vice President, and Deputy Leader. She was the chair of the Rodney Local Board of Auckland Council.
Stuart Wilson was Act's Campaign Manager and is currently David Seymour's Senior Advisor.
During the 25 years that I have known him, he's been the nastiest element of Act, spreading rumours (like Jordan Williams was Don Brash's love child), false accusations, and running Act's "train wreck" election campaigns:
"As far as I can tell Stu Wilson pretty much single handedly blew the second biggest budget of that election, had nearly nothing to show for it, burned off half the party and 90 percent of the goodwill, then somehow … got a cushy job out of it."
Beth Houlbrooke got involved in Act when few wanted anything to do with it. She then took it to new lows. She was Vice President and Deputy Leader under Tim Jago. Sexual abuse in the youth wing was covered up. Her only media coverage during the 2017 election campaign was:
"The fact is, parents who cannot afford to have children should not be having them."
That went down like a lead balloon, resulting in Act's worst election result.
I tried to warn Act about how much of a hypocrite Beth was and how much of a risk she was to the party's chances. Tim Jago agreed, demoting her from 2 to 13 on the party list.
After that demotion, the problems for me started.
Beth Houlbrooke had a loyal following of older women, even managing the Greater Auckland Chorus:
Beth's campaign against me started with defamatory comments circulated in Auckland Council's computer database. Describing me as a liar, bully, violent, misogynist, troll, and hacker, by 25 July 2024 there were “11,558 hits” mentioning me.
In my defence, I published several articles about Houlbrooke and her family's influence in politics. When the mainstream media picked up on it, that attracted Jordan Williams, Louis Houlbrooke's, and John J Harrison's attention:
John is the father of Matt Harrison and was on the Lindisfarne College Board of Trustees in 1993. His son, Stu, even published a book detailing the dirty politics his father got up to:
The book detailed the nastiness of John and Matt Harrison. They either inflicted, condoned, or covered up bullying, physical abuse, sexual abuse, fraud, or dirty politics. The book is no longer on sale for some strange reason. The blog that John regularly contributed also mysteriously ceased days after I called him out:
John donated to Act when the party's campaigning took a 'racist tone.' Look at when the donations were made:
James Headifen was proud of his racism, even boasting about his "branch of the Ku Kux Klan" (which he described as 'Knights in White Satin.') Here is his Lindisfarne College Chronicle entry:
During New Year's Eve celebrations, I saw Headifen and his mate hurl racist comments at a group of Polynesians, which didn't go down well:
Headifen's partner in crime was Matthew Brooker, whose mother was the head of Lindisfarne's English Department. She was also the teacher who was the victim of Matthew Parson's physical threats.
James Headifen's father, Peter, was on the Lindisfarne College Board of Trustees at the same time as John Harrison:
Peter Headifen helped set up Lindisfarne College's Foundation, which he chairs. The foundation effectively rorts the state integration scheme:
The school found itself rolling in money:
After Radio NZ, TVNZ, and Stuff published the article quoting me, the conspiracy to silence me escalated. The modus operandi had changed to the same that Lindisfarne College applied: conspiring to bring a false accusation. In other words, the 'stitch up.'
Beth first involved her boyfriend, which backfired badly. Their plan was to provoke a confrontation with me and then use their police connections to get me thrown in the cells. After two failed attempts this happened:
That was from an affidavit from a witness supporting a restraining order against Beth Houlbrooke and her accomplices.
Undeterred, Beth sent this email to the police that she expected to believe her:
Notice the names of the files attached to the email? Stu Wilson had prepared a dossier on me, misspelling my name. And the "Grant McLachlan School Incident.png"? Gee, I wonder what that could have referred to?
The Warkworth Police sergeant and the Snells Beach community constable didn't want me to know Beth's plans, but were happy to not redact that they were related to what happened to me at Lindisfarne College.
Three Strikes
With Beth, her boyfriend, nor his best mate allowed to go anywhere near me, Beth's Snells Beach mates targeted me instead. They used a Covid 19 Alert Four Lockdown to target me during my daily walks of my dog. While Beth was helping the ratepayers' association committee defraud the council of $6000, a corrupt dog ranger led them to believe that my dog would be destroyed if caught off leash three times.
On 9 September, 18 September, and 1 October 2021, vigilantes targeted me. On all three occasions, ratepayers' association founder and close ally to Beth, June Turner, was involved, even though she was told by Police to stay away from me.
On the first attempt, I photographed June Turner, her husband, and a third person following me. After I tied my dog to a fence while I walked on to the beach, someone unleashed my dog, June Turner took a photo of my dog looking for me, and sent it to the council:
I then saw June Turner and her husband flee the scene, disappearing near Lois McPherson's home. I received a fine from the council, which was later waived.
On 17 September 2021, I published a history of the antics of June Turner, Beth Houlbrooke, and the ratepayers' association, describing them as eco-terrorism tactics. The following day, they demonstrated those tactics, following the Lindisfarne College modus operandi to the letter.
On the second occasion, Lorraine Martin (the mother of a cop and wife of a National Party campaign manager) followed me, unleashed my dog, and when I caught her in the act I filmed her assault me, throw her camera at me, break my nose, and then flee the scene:
Paul Shanahan then gathered some people and pitched a narrative that I had attacked Lorraine Martin, not the other way around. Diane Taylor then told Lorraine Martin what to say during the 111 call.
The constable then followed the plot, stitching together statements and fabricating evidence to fit the narrative. The witnesses, who were breaching the Covid lockdown rules, obliged.
The day after I was charged with assault and robbery, there was a third attempt to unleash my dog by nine vigilantes who followed me, including June Turner, Lois McPherson, and a lady seen near where my dog was unleashed during the first attempt:
Despite being told to stay away from me by police, June Turner was effectively caught perverting the course of justice.
At the trial, Lois McPherson was Lorraine Martin's support person, sitting outside the witness stand. Observing all the evidence, she was involved with two attempts to pervert the course of justice in front of the judge. First, Lorraine Martin was caught passing a 'secret note' to the constable to hand to the Crown Prosecutor.
The "seen by a local" was Lois McPherson. Lois McPherson was then caught whispering answers to Lorraine Martin while she on the witness stand giving evidence.
The trial was farcical to watch. When presented with my photographic evidence of Lorraine Martin attacking me, the prosecution fell apart. By the end of the trial, the complainant, witnesses, and prosecuting police officer had changed their stories as many as seven times.
The conspiracy had committed the following offences:
Failure to comply with a COVID-19 order (6 months);
Wounding with intent (7 years);
False statements (3 years);
Fabricating evidence (7 years);
Conspiring to defeat justice (7 years);
Perjury (s109) (14 years); and
Conspiring to bring false accusation (14 years).
In the failed attempt to get me convicted of crimes that carried with it a sentence of 10 years, the complainant, witnesses, and police committed offences punishable by 14 years in prison.
“Inter-generationally entrenched culture of cruelty”
The local MP was National Party Courts Spokeman, Chris Penk. He regularly reminded his followers of the court backlog:
From the day that I was charged, I wanted my trial to be heard as soon as possible but the Police stalled. I tried to expedite the trial by pleading not guilty by notice, not seeking name suppression, and shifting the jury trial to the Auckland District Court. Meanwhile, the Police stalled the disclosure of evidence. I wanted a trial in mid 2023. The Police wanted one in late November 2023, which would fall after the latest date that the general election could be held.
For two and a half years while I was on bail, I was labelled a "granny basher." Meanwhile, Beth Houlbrooke and her followers escalated their agenda. On 8 October 2022, Beth unsuccessfully ran for councillor, only to be offered a cushy job as a lobbyist for Auckland Transport the next month.
The general election was set for 14 October 2023. The trial was originally scheduled for the week beginning 20 November 2023, which was during the period that the Act Party was negotiating a coalition deal with the National Party and New Zealand First. The trial was eventually buried during the days around Waitangi Day 2024.
At 9:30am on 5 October 2023, I received a phone call from Hastings Detective Sergeant James Forgie. He told me that he had been assigned my complaint involving Lindisfarne College staff and pupils. Forgie said that he met with my former rector at his home, accepted that there was strong evidence for a prosecutable case, but the case didn’t reach the “public interest test under the Solicitor General’s Prosecution Guidelines.” I asked to receive a letter in writing. I never received one.
According to Police records, the file was transferred from Auckland to Detective Senior Sergeant James Keane of the Hawkes Bay Crime Investigation Branch on 7 September 2022 and was reassigned to Forgie on 13 October 2022. There were only three database entries after that. First, this one at 2:25pm on 27 March 2023:
Then, on 10:15am on 5 October 2023:
And, finally, this entry at 3:09pm on 16 October 2023:
It was safe to assume, however, that the three lines redacted on 27 March 2023 contained the entire investigation, including when Forgie visited William Graham Smith at his Havelock North home.
The facts of my complaint weren’t in dispute. I was assaulted, I acted in self-defence, there was a conspiracy to make a false accusation, and that people perverted the course of justice to try to get me imprisoned. Essentially, the school tried to negate the abuse that I received by stigmatising me as a criminal.
Forgie never contacted my father to discuss his affidavit. He never contacted the Royal Commission to obtain my statement, or the other statements provided to the Royal Commission by other survivors. The evidence all pointed to a pattern of abuse and cover ups, which was described as an “inter-generationally entrenched culture of cruelty.”
What happened to me on the last day of school was just the tip of the iceberg and Forgie didn't even bother to dip his toe.
The whole point of the Royal Commission was to address the culture of abuse and cover-ups within institutions and the failure by police to properly deal with complaints. Hastings Police obviously didn't get the memo.
For the long list of Solicitor General’s Prosecution Guidelines criteria, my case ticked all the boxes for prosecution. The public interest test included factors such as the corruption of a person in a position of influence. Basically, when my complaint was transferred from Operation Beverly to the Hastings Police, the Hastings Police used guidelines as an excuse to ignore not only the law but also the basis of a Royal Commission.
More importantly, Forgie sat on the investigation for six months and then decided to fob me off weeks before my trial without putting it in writing.
An excuse to do nothing
The Presbyterian Church destroyed incriminating evidence when the Royal Commission was announced. Act MP Brooke van Velden then became the Minister of Internal Affairs, responsible for the Royal Commission. The final report made no mention of Lindisfarne College.
Official information released by the Police reveal that they took my 14 May 2021 complaint against Lindisfarne College seriously. Immediately following the Lorraine Martin incident, the Police didn't take any complaints by me seriously. When I informed the Police Commissioner of the criminal harassment by unsupervised volunteers at the Mahurangi Police Station, Assistant Commissioner Richard Chambers insinuated that the charges against me were an excuse to ignore the substantial evidence in my complaint:
After I was acquitted, the Police closed the Mahurangi Police Station. It turned out that I was telling the truth:
The Warkworth Police already had a disgraceful reputation, spurred on by corrupt politicians. They even joked about it:
The Independent Police Conduct Authority are conducting two investigations into my complaints against Lindisfarne College and Warkworth Police, including the conduct of the new Police Commissioner, Richard Chambers. Regardless of the findings, my lawyers have been instructed to prosecute. If the allegations against me met the threshold to prosecute - and if those allegations turned out to false - the 14 year punishment demonstrates that the Police should have taken such offences seriously.
The Police were more focussed with wasting resources prosecuting me than investigating and prosecuting spiteful people wasting their time. I'm now turning the tables on them.
Police Complaint against Lindisfarne College
To read more, here is the complaint laid with Police against Lindisfarne College, along with evidence and fact analysis to support it.
Here is the complaint:
We even helped the Police with analysis of all the evidence, pointing out the flaws in the prosecution, and explaining how the conspiracy played out:
And here is my father's complaint about blackmail:
Here is the stenographer's notes of the trial, along with a transcript of the trial:
Here are the witness statements:
These are the exhibits from the trial:
Here are diagrams of the two attacks coordinated by Troy Ackerman:
Here are the offenders at the 1993 Prefects' Ball:
Here are pages from the 1993 and 1995 Lindisfarne College Chronicles:
Here are the rulings of the trial judge relating to requests for name suppression and for Troy Ackerman's police statement to be read to the court:
These are just some examples of police misconduct mentioned in my book Unleashed: Sex, rackets & vigilantes in New Zealand's most corrupted community.