Peter Pakau fallout continues, Police reputation in tatters:

When crooked cop Peter Pakau overheard a colleague talking about a black, 2006 Chrysler 300c that had been reported stolen and had turned up at an auto electrician's shop in West Auckland, he hatched a plan that is still causing his former bosses legal nightmares.

Police files that trace the whole sordid saga make for comical reading.

The Chrysler was originally owned by Oscar Chand, a drug runner who was described in court as the "mastermind" of a bungled attempt to smuggle $40,000 of pure methamphetamine from Auckland to New Plymouth in 2012.  He used his daughters, one of whom gave birth the same day she was arrested at gunpoint, as mules.

The Chrysler, said to be worth $30,000, was registered in the name of Chand's then-girlfriend, Danielle Cooke, who was using it.

In June 2012, Cooke reported the car had been stolen, and was being driven around by a Head Hunter gangster, the police files show.

Some time over the next three months, the Chrysler was recovered, but police weren't notified.

In September, it turned up at an auto electrician's for repair. The electrician checked and found it was reported stolen, and called police.

Pakau overheard the constable who took the call discussing the vehicle. According to the reports, he located the file and arranged for a criminal associate, Melissa Brown, to collect the Chrysler. They would sell it, and split the profit.

Pakau called the electrician, the files say, telling him he was a police officer, the car was now owned by Brown and he could release it to her.

Brown paid the $1100 repair bill, and took the car.

In March the following year, she sold it for $19,500.

Later that day, the buyer sold it to a car dealer for $20,500. The dealer later sold it to a private buyer in the South Island for $29,000 and it has since been sold again, to a Nelson woman.

In March 2013, Chand advised police what Pakau and Brown had done - but at that point the car wasn't re-recorded as stolen.

By this stage, police had begun surveillance on Pakau and 10 associates. Last November he was jailed for eight years for corruption, supplying methamphetamine, accepting bribes and stealing the car. Brown went down for five years, six months.

The saga might have ended there - but Cooke came forward and said: "I want my car back."

At first, police indicated that was the fair outcome. Although the original owners had a "dubious criminal history", wrote a detective senior sergeant in an email, "assuming they originally had legitimate title to the vehicle and it was stolen from them, then they still have title."

He recommended police get a warrant and seize the Chrysler. The current owner could seek recourse through the LMVD and the dealer could take civil action against the first purchaser.

A detective sergeant said she didn't know how Chand came into possession of the car, "although it is likely that it is a result of some sort of standover or drug deal".

The police legal section was asked for advice. A solicitor wrote that although it appeared Chand and Cooke had title, recovering the vehicle could cause "difficulties" for police because they hadn't "alerted the world" that the car was stolen when they became aware Pakau had taken it.

"Therefore anyone who purchased the vehicle may name police as a party to civil proceedings."

He was even worried that Pakau and Brown might take civil action, citing "officially induced error", when someone relies upon a direction or authority of a government official (that is, Pakau) which turns out to be unlawful.

It was decided to visit Chand in Rolleston prison, where he was serving time for his drug dealing, and see if he would be prepared to accept "reparation" instead of the Chrysler.

It might go down as the first time in history that a criminal turned down the offer of money from the police.

The constable who arrived in the Kowhai unit in August last year got a frosty reception.

He recorded the conversation in a memo.

Chand: "I don't want anything to do with that car. The cops up there ... are laughing about this. They're the reason the situation is like it is."

Constable: "But ... would you be happy with reparation?"

Chand: "I told you I don't want anything to do with that car. I don't need the aggravation. I don't want anything to do with the Henderson cops, they're gangsters, the lot of them."

Constable: "Well, one of them might've been but that doesn't mean they all are."

Chand: "Yes they are, the whole gang, they're corrupt. I'm having nothing to do with them. Now if you can get out of my way, I want to go back to my cell."

Since then, police have backtracked and are now refusing to take action unless Cooke can prove she is the owner. The Independent Police Conduct Authority has declined to intervene.

In an interview, police Inspector Edward Carr said police now had a signed statement from the man who paid for the car (Chand), "and despite having been registered to several different associates for short periods, he is considered to be the true owner".

 That man had advised he did not wish to make any claim on the vehicle. Carr indicated Cooke had only had the car in her name for 22 days.

"Police have invited the woman to substantiate her claim of ownership by providing proof of this. To date, this has not occurred."

Cooke, who's no longer with Chand, says she had possession of the Chrysler and was the registered owner when it was stolen, but she doesn't have a sales and purchase agreement or a receipt.

She believes it raises serious questions about police procedure relating to stolen vehicles and intends to begin legal proceedings against police next month.

Wairarapa Police have been operating a similar racket for years involving motor vehicles, and assisting corrupt local SPCA officials to steal horses in a similar racket.  They are currently refusing to investigate claims made by the owner of a Hillman Minx by simply refusing to interview the witnesses to the sale of the vehicle - because the seller was none other than corrupt EX Constable Gallagher's wife's brother - a recidivist offender who Police protect because not only is he related to Gallagher but Constable Peter Cunningham has been having it off with the seller's mother for years, as well as shacking up with his own son's wife's mother in recent years in continuation of the long standing incestuous manner in which the Wairarapa operates.  This website has been publishing those allegations for years and all Gallagher and Cunningham have done is instigate a number of unsuccessful criminal prosecutions - they don't dare challenge the veracity of the claims though, because the evidence is indisputable.

Mining for justice - justice for sale - the price of a life and who paid it:

Pete Cahill, Sonya Rockhouse, Anna Osborne, Kath Monk, Helen Kelly, Bernie Monk
Peter Cranney, Nigel Hampton QC, and Simon Meikle, outside the High Court today.

Anna Osborne and Sonya Rockhouse filed an application for judicial review in the High Court against the District Court and 'Worksafe NZ' regarding the decision to drop twelve charges against mine manager Peter Whittall in consideration of a payment that equated to around $110,000 for each of the families of the miners killed - paid by the former company's insurers, the company, Pike River Coal Ltd having been sold with the dead men still inside it and gutted of its assets by the greedy, overpaid directors and executives of state owned Solid Energy, who profited at the expense of the grieving families. 

Worksafe were formerly known as the Department of Labour, MoBIE (or the Moby Dicks as they were colloquially refered to), they were ultimately responsible for ensuring that safety systems were in place and in force at the mine, they knew that was not the case and turned a blind eye until the explosions killed twenty nine men.  The application calls for a High Court judicial review of the District Court decision to drop the twelve charges against mine manager Peter Whittall.

This follows the ruling of Dobson J in February regarding the disclosure of documents regarding the decision to drop the charges against Whittall in exchange for a payment of money from the insurers of the Pike River mine.

The decision of Dobson J can be viewed AT THIS LINK.

Crucial to these matters of course is the Court file, and of grave concern to many New Zealanders is the "disgraceful" revelation that parts of the Court file have now 'conveniently' GONE MISSING.

The submissions at the High Court over the past two days have focused on the matter of prosecutorial decisions, how they are regulated (such regulation seems rather vague, limited and ineffective), how these decisions are arrived at, and most importantly, the scope to review them in the Courts, which is extremely limited.  Despite this, Anna Osborne, Sonya Rockhouse, Kath and Bernie Monk and others are refusing to take the gross injustices heaped upon the families and friends of the twenty nine Pike River miners who died on or about 19 November 2010 when the unsafe mine exploded, killing them, and leaving the two survivors, one of whom is one of Mrs Rockhouse's son Daniel, who finally received recognition for his courage and integrity in saving the life of the only other survivor.  Another son, Daniel's brother Ben, was killed in the explosions.

The review of the decision to drop the prosecutions against Whittall focused on the distinction between the question of "evidential sufficiency" or lack thereof as a reason to decide whether to initiate, proceed with or discontinue a prosecution, and then there was the matter of the "voluntary payment".  The families were not even consulted about the decisions.

Lawyer Simon Meikle pointed out the terms of the Illegal Contracts Act at one point (section 3 defines illegal contracts and sections 6 and 7 go into further detail), and a number of legal arguments were skillfully put to the Court by Nigel Hampton QC who led the legal team for the Applicants.  Questions were raised around the terms and intent of the Summary Proceedings and Criminal Proceedings Rules and Acts, matters of intricate jurisprudence, and the Court interacted in a positive and enquiring manner with Mr Hampton as he traversed the various arguments.

There are remarkably few precedent cases regarding the matter of prosecutorial decision making and the review of such decisions, and it was a privilege to listen to Mr Hampton and the Court exploring the legal parameters in such depth and detail.

Anna Osborne, whose husband Milton was killed in the 2010 explosions at the Pike River mine, and Sonya Rockhouse, whose son Ben was killed, have asked for a judicial review into the Crown's decision to drop 12 health and safety charges against the former chief executive of Pike River Peter Whittall.  They are supported by a number of members of the public, member of parliament Damian O'Connor, Helen Kelly and the CTU, and others.

Outside court today, Ms Osborne, told Lisa Davies of ONE News it was "ridiculous" that Mr Whittall had been cleared, adding that the "justice system is a joke" and that the families of the victims "don't want to be screwed over."

Nigel Hampton, the lawyer for the Pike River families, described the decision as "chequebook justice" and told the judicial review that it "struck at the heart of the New Zealand Justice system, setting a dangerous precedent that justice can be bought".

Mr Hampton told Justice Brendan Brown the circumstances should never have happened and that "it was an abuse of public interest and an abuse of the criminal justice system and its processes".

He told the court it was an unlawful and exceptional decision that led to the 12 charges being dropped on December 2013, despite the fact sufficient evidence existed - which is the Key fact of the matter.

He says "that was the quid pro quo really. Money was paid and the charges were dismissed".

"Is it justice for the rich?" he asked.

"That's what I suggest this comes to and that I suggest is a disastrous message to allow to be sent to the public, that justice in this country can be bought. It has never been thus."

He says the families "would rather see Peter Whittall made to answer".

Ms Rockhouse and Mrs Osborne have travelled to Wellington so they can attend the hearing in person, fought for 18 months for the case to be heard.

"Sonya and I couldn't let it go, because we just haven't had justice... to finally get our day in court is huge," says Mrs Osborne.

Worksafe lawyer Joanna Holden argued that the decision to drop the charges was lawful and reasonable, and not the result of an abuse of process.  Her submissions sounded less than convincing, at least one lawyer present describing her submission as "ridiculous".

"The suggestion that Worksafe...that they failed to take into account the impact of the disaster is utterly and completely rejected" said Ms Holden, grasping at straws.

The families of the 29 men killed in the disaster were shocked and angry when the 12 charges were dropped against Mr Whittall in December 2013.  A legal review by MoBIE - the entity that was formed when the Department of Labour was restructured in attempts to remove the Ministry (or "Department") from culpibility and association with the deaths of the twenty nine men - decided that the "likelihood of gaining a conviction was low".

That decision was clearly tainted by the involvement of the Department of Labour - MoBIE dicks, Worksafe, whatever you want to call them, they are one and the same, and their guilt was evidenced when the Minister, Kate Wilkinson resigned and the CEO did the same, in the wake of the Commission of Inquiry into the killing of the twenty nine men and the operation of the mine when all involved knew perfectly well that it was a disaster just waiting to happen.  The decision is further tainted with the odious stench of corruption by the decision of Dobson J in ruling that the communication between Clown Prosecutor Brent Stanaway and others involved in the corrupt decision is protected from scrutiny, and the unbelievable excuse that parts of the Court file are suddenly and conveniently "missing".


The same day the charges were dropped, an un-named insurance company - who was the company - who are the shareholders of the insurance company and what conflicts of interest existed? - representing Whittall and the Directors of Pike River Coal Ltd offered a voluntary reparation payment of $110,000 to the families of each of the 29 victims and the two survivors. At the time the families labelled the pay out as "blood money".   You'd have to wonder if it's an insurance company like AMI or AMP - who sponsor the grandstanding of 'journalists' like Paul Henry and Mike Hosking, in order to manipulate public opinion - the matter of "public interest" was discussed in Court - who measures public interest?  How?  NZ is PERCEIVED as being relatively free of corruption - the Key word is PERCEIVED - the media control how politicians are perceived and most New Zealanders are extremely naive!

Is that the cost of a human life in New Zealand in this day and age is it???  $110,000???


It is a damning indictment on our legal system when two women are forced to go to these lengths to get justice for the killing of a husband and a son and the loved sons, husbands, brothers, fathers, of twenty six other families, after a deal done behind their backs - which they were not even consulted about, let alone asked if they agreed with it, a deal cunningly set up by taxpayer funded lawyers in an act which was a corrupt abuse of Court process and utterly abhorrent to any right thinking person.

Direct link to the previous decision of Dobson J:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-Evc9gAoXg9UGVBLUJwMXRaRG8/view

We await the reserved decision, this post will be updated when that is received and a link to it will be included.

Police incompetence highlighted in death of vulnerable patient:

The family of Nicky Tairoa Stephens are speaking up about the failure of Police to respond to pleas for help searching for their son after he was allowed to wander out of a mental health facility where he was supposed to be receiving care and protection:

"When my son failed to return on 9th March from an ‘unescorted’ cigarette break from a ‘secure’ unit at Waikato Hospital’s Henry Bennett Centre the family was sick with worry, knowing his two recent attempts at suicide, and his recurrent talk of suicide made him an exceptionally high suicide risk while he was on his own. - See more at:

When my son failed to return on 9th March from an ‘unescorted’ cigarette break from a ‘secure’ unit at Waikato Hospital’s Henry Bennett Centre the family was sick with worry, knowing his two recent attempts at suicide, and his recurrent talk of suicide made him an exceptionally high suicide risk while he was on his own.

What we didn’t fully comprehend then, but know only too well now, was the depth and breadth of official incompetence, inaction, backside-covering and outright lying that would unfold over the three days until his body was found in the Waikato River, and the 10 weeks since.

My other son Tony has written eloquently in The Daily Blog about how the New Zealand mental health system failed Nicky, and fails too many other families.

We have also tried to initiate other inquiries via the Coroner’s office, the Health & Disability Commission, the District Inspectors of Mental Health – none of which have yet started.

And we are actively using social media (e.g. Facebook: Nicky ‘Autumn’ Stevens) to get Nicky’s story out, and help other families tell their stories, many of them horrifically similar to ours.

But what we haven’t yet told is the story of the almost complete dereliction of duty exhibited by the NZ Police following their receipt of the ‘Missing Person’s report from the Hospital shortly after Nicky disappeared.

After all, Police did not start a search for Nick until over two days after he went missing, despite telling the DHB one was under way immediately (at least according to the DHB).

Nicky’s body was found three days after he went missing, but only a kilometer down the fast-flowing River from the Hospital area.

And two witnesses have come forward claiming in a written statement to have seen Nicky on the day after he disappeared between the Hospital and where his body was found – near the Police station, actually. Not that Police have yet interviewed that couple, 7 weeks after we provided the statement to them.

No Police read the statement clearly placed in their missing person notes that he was a suicide risk, and had made recent attempts at his life.

The Police ‘Comms North’ call centre did not note down the Hospital nurse clearly pointing out the suicide risk three times in the initial call, including using the word “serious” to describe it.

Shades of Iraena Asher, the troubled young woman who went missing at Piha in 2004, with police responding to the report of her disappearance by sending a taxi (to the wrong address). Nicky didn’t even get a taxi! Iraena, who was also mentally ill, was presumed drowned, as her body was never found.

As a result of the lack of attention to the known details, mid-level cops pushed Nicky’s missing persons case well down the priority list, not even assigning it to any officer to look at for 42 hours after the missing person’s report came in.

When no police had contacted us for over a day after Nicky’s disappearance, we tried to call their Hamilton ‘operations room’, being cut off six times before getting a junior cop to take a message asking for whoever was in charge to call us – something that never happened.

In fact we have a written report from Hospital staff claiming that the person who would normally handle Nicky’s case was “out on training” that day.

In desperation, after 30 hours of hearing nothing I wrote urgent, ‘top priority’ emails to the Police Minister, Police Commissioner and Waikato District Police Commander demanding some contact with us, and outlining the serious suicide risk. The next day the Minister’s office emailed back saying they wouldn’t do anything but had referred my email on to the Commissioner’s office.

Neither senior cop sent a message down the line to Hamilton police to get their backsides into gear, and to this day, neither have contacted the family.

The Police finally did start a search, 50 hours after Nicky went missing. His body was found by a member of the public, right across the River from where I was personally searching at the time.

We hoped, naively, that the pleasant cops who drove us to the morgue to view Nicky’s body after it was recovered from the River, and who let us listen to the missing persons phone call audio tape, would do the right thing, and recognise police inaction had thrown away any chance of finding Nicky before he drowned himself.

But after initially offering all the help we wanted, and even letting us listen to the audio of the missing persons call, Police have clammed up since we laid formal complaints of negligence against the DHB, insisting on a formal police investigation, and since we made a point, after hearing the audio, of telling them we thought they had not done their job properly.

Police have only just in the last week (9 weeks after Nicky’s body was found) started their investigation of the DHB negligence.

Police have refused to give the family a copy of the missing persons call audio tape, or the notes of that call that are on Nicky’s file.

Police have appointed a Hamilton police sergeant to investigate the failings of the Hamilton Police and, in some cases, his superiors – not that this investigation has even started, 11 weeks after Nicky disappeared.

The Police have gone to great pains to tell us on several occasions that if they have made mistakes they will “put their hands up”, and rectify their errors.

But the family finds that the Police words are not matched by their actions, and have now made a formal and detailed complaint to the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA), who we are told are this week holding a high-level meeting to decide how to handle it.

We are not holding our breath for a timely, independent and fearless investigation by the IPCA – that would be a bonus – but we are letting Police, health and Government officials know that we won’t be bullshitted to, and that we will leave no stone unturned looking for the truth about Nicky’s death."

Dave Macpherson – Father of Nicky Stevens

No one told us it would be like this.

Tena ra tatou katoa.

He korero na Alistair Te Ariki Campbell e pa ana ki te ANZAC pakanga i tu ki Gallipoli

Ka awatea ka tineia te kamokamo o te mata o te kanohi, katahi ka timata matou ki te whawhai o taua rangi nei. Ko nga Taitama o te pamu, o te kohao whenua, o te taone, o te kura ranei, i matea i te puke pupu rere a i matea hoki matou i te puke tupapaku i takotokoto ai. Kihai te tangata i pohehetia ai
Ka maumaharahara kia ratou ma.

New Zealand poet Alistair Te Ariki Campbell wrote this about the ANZACs in Gallipoli:

"The light of adventure that shone so brightly in our eyes when we set out was extinguished that day. Young men from the farms, the mines, the cities, the public schools, we died in a vast quagmire of blood and broken bodies. No one told us it would be like this."

We will remember them.

While John Key mumbles inanely about sending Kiwi troops to Iraq to fight against "ISIS" and "ISIL" etc, because of "alleged atrocities" Key is socialising with the Saudis, despite the fact that there have been over forty beheadings in Saudi Arabia so far this year.

Nicholas Taiaroa Stevens - Some people feel the rain, others just get wet.

Nicholas Taiaroa Stevens was found this morning.

Hamilton Police finally announced yesterday that he was missing, earlier today his father issued a desperate plea for information and assistance with the search for Nicholas.

The volunteers who run the Hamilton Homeless Trust pointed out that Nicky wasn't homeless, but he was greatly loved by all who knew him, they've been raising awareness that he's missing for days on social media etc, and asking for information.

This message is shared from Nicky's dad - Dave Macpherson -  with great sadness.

"Sadly, we have to tell you that our youngest son Nicholas (Nicky) has passed away.

He was found dead in the Waikato River this morning.

We have just seen him, and he looks very peaceful. He had some tortured times recently, but one consolation is that these are now over for him.

We want to thank the many, many people – family, friends, old schoolmates and others that have reached out to us in the last couple of days with messages of support and hope – Nick had a LOT of friends who wanted him to stay with us and to be well; sadly that won’t be the case, but we know he will be missed.

We want to also say that Nicky’s death was preventable on this occasion, and when we have had time to grieve as a family, we will be taking this up with the medical authorities who have failed to properly exercise their duty of care over Nicky.

We ask you to respect our privacy in the short term, and we will advise future arrangements for Nicky.

Dave and Jane"

Nicky was just 21.  Hey was born in the town where I live.

In light of the recent report from the IPCA regarding the manner in which Police treated a woman suffering from a mental health condition who was sexually assaulted by a hospital security guard, who then went on to sexually assault a second woman because Police did absolutely nothing about the first complaint, and the evidence of other serious problems regarding the treatment of mental health patients in Aotearoa New Zealand, it's clear that Nicky Tairoa Stevens is not the only one who's been let down.

Nicholas Ward Harris was killed in a prison cell after he was arrested, for being homeless in Hamilton basically.  It's not just Police, it's prison staff, mental health professionals, the so called justice system and the Courts, vulnerable people are being let down right across the board, while the meagre, taxpayer funded resources that are supposed to be spent treating, helping, supporting people who genuinely need care, are instead being spent on corrupt persecutory vendettas.

UPDATE - 16 March 2015:

Kia Ora whanau - as I have posted all week re Nicky - I would like to inform you of a public statement made by Nicky's whanau - I would also like to acknowledge the whanau for what they have gone through and are going through at this time , Nga mihi Alvina, Hamilton Homeless Trust.

Shortly after Nicky died his family began to speak up about what was happening to them, and they're co-ordinating discussion and constructive action among others who've been treated the same way and other human beings with basic empathy.

Nicholas Taiaroa Macpherson Stevens, 26.4.93 – 9.3.15 

A Preventable Death 

The Victim of Medical and Bureaucratic Malpractice 

Public Statement by his parents Jane and Dave, and brother Tony. 

~ 

Our family completely rejects a Waikato Hospital’s sham ‘investigation’, and calls for Hospital authorities to be held accountable by an independent investigation. 

Our son’s death was preventable, had proper and common sense procedures been followed. 

The day following the discovery of our son’s body in the Waikato River, our family received an email letter from the Waikato Hospital Manager stating the Hospital was going to conduct a 70-day internal investigation into the “service and care delivery issues” that the family had raised BEFORE Nicholas’ body was discovered. 

A mid-level manager of the Hospital was to conduct the ‘investigation’ – and the family was not asked for input into the personnel or brief for the investigation, and was told in the letter it would be offered “an opportunity to meet and discuss the findings following “ its completion. 

We will not participate in such a sham ‘investigation’. 

We demand a complete, independent investigation run totally outside Waikato Hospital, where the family has opportunity for input at all stages. Waikato Hospital should initiate and pay for this. 

The Hospital letter also refused us access at this point to documents showing communication between the Hospital and Police following the discovery that Nicholas had gone missing. 

FACTS ABOUT NICHOLAS’ CARE AT WAIKATO HOSPITAL

Nicholas was in Hospital under a compulsory care order under the Mental Health Act. He was admitted less than 3 weeks before his death after trying to commit suicide, requiring several hours of urgent surgery – which the family was not told about for several days. 

Against strong and repeated opposition from the family, Waikato Hospital granted Nicholas ‘unescorted leave’ from the Hospital grounds. 

The family warned Waikato Hospital staff and management on a number of occasions that Nicholas was in high danger of harming himself again.  

He had described to family members and friends two other suicide attempts while in Hospital on ‘unescorted leave’ – these had been passed on both to Ward staff and to management. 

Hospital authorities chose not only to ignore our opposition to ‘unescorted leave’, but planned to extend it on the very day he disappeared. 

When he disappeared, he was on his second period of unescorted leave in less than 2 hours. Nicholas’ care Management Plan stated that leave was for a maximum of 15 minutes – it seems he was absent for at least 90 minutes before he was discovered missing.  

He was only discovered missing when friends came to see him and he couldn’t be found. 

CCTV footage of the Henry Bennett Centre entrance and lobby show Nicholas being in the vicinity, going in and out of the door for a period well after his leave period ought to have expired. 

There is no (active) system of keeping records as to when patients in the Henry Bennett Centre go on leave, escorted or unescorted, or when visitors enter or leave the Wards. 

Nicholas’ situation is not the first instance like this at Waikato Hospital.

Had Nicholas been on escorted leave, as his family stated was the only safe option at that time, he would almost certainly have been alive today. 

Failing that, had his leave maximum period of 15 minutes been adhered to, and staff been sent to look for him, again Nicholas would almost certainly have been alive today. 

It is for these and other reasons that we assert malpractice on the Hospital’s part.

When he was discovered missing, Police tell us that the missing notice received by Hamilton Police from the Hospital did not mention anything about a suicide alert, or any danger to his health. 

Police therefore did not accord the report any high priority, and in fact did not even contact the family until almost two days after Nicholas’ disappearance – despite us lodging with their website missing person’s report system (we could not get to speak to ANY officer) our extreme concerns about his safety. 

We were finally contacted by Police AFTER we sent emails of complaint to the Minister of Police, the Police Commissioner and the District Commander of Police. They have claimed that timing is a coincidence. 

We believe the Police should be far more proactive when first receiving ANY such missing persons reports – this is not the first case where very prompt action may have prevented a disaster. 

We stress however that in no way do we blame the Police for what has happened, and we would like to especially thank Det Stephen Stokes for the sympathy and support he has shown us. 

The farewell service for Nicholas will be held at the Hamilton Gardens Pavilion, at 11am on Wednesday 18th March. 

Dave Macpherson

Dave Macpherson, Jane Stevens, Tony Macpherson-Stevens 

021-477 388 dave.macpherson@xtra.co.nz

There is no "compulsory care order" under the Mental Health Act.

There is a Compulsory Treatment Order though.  It's under Part 2 of the Mental Health Act, from section 17,  section 28 states this:

Every compulsory treatment order shall be either—
(a)  a community treatment order; or
(b)  an inpatient order,—
- and on making a compulsory treatment order the court shall specify the kind of order it is.

Section 31 establishes the Responsible Clinician as the person responsible for granting leave.  Certain so called responsible clinicians are extremely irresponsible indeed.  It hasn't been established who is culpable for the death of Nicholas Taiaroa Macpherson Stevens yet, but questions have most certainly been raised - the unacceptable thing is, that they were raised a long time ago, they've been repeatedly raised for a very long time.  Nothing was done about it.

Dave Macpherson said the family had written to the hospital at least 12 times before and after Stevens went missing, expressing "real concerns" about his care.

"What we're saying to the hospital is 'we've done the complaints, you didn't respond, and it's too late for an internal investigation'," he said.

The family wants Waikato DHB to call in the Health and Disability Commissioner or a similar independent body to head the investigation and wish to be consulted on the inquiry's brief.

Since Stevens' death, David Macpherson had been contacted by members of the public expressing concern about the care their family members had received at Waikato Hospital.

"We're more familiar with bureaucracies and systems than most people and we still couldn't make it work for our son. What hope have people got without our backgrounds?"

Good question.

In recent weeks the stain of Nicky's death has spread and darkened.

Jane, Dave and Tony are speaking up and calling for accountability, and being opposed and hindered by a system that is seriously dysfunctional now, due to the years and years of erosion of integrity, competent management and governance, and basic humanity, logic and fairness.

The Health and Disability Commissioner is in the business of 'resolving' complaints by employing strategies of 'damage control' - minimising complaints and fabricating excuses for the perpetrators instead of removing them from the system and forcing them to get a job in the real world - if they can.

Shall we dance? John Key wants to change the flag:

Many people believe that John Key and his mates at the TTP Tea Party have already resolved to change the New Zealand flag, Gareth Morgan's buying a seat at Ratana and the Orewa Rotary Club in between Don Brash and Georgina Beyer and telling everyone we should change the name of the country to the worst pronunciation of Aotearoa anyone's ever heard). And the referenda have been structured very cunningly indeed.

A panel has been appointed to chose just four designs for the referenda.

You can't win if you're not in, and it's basic art of war strategy to use the momentum of the enemy against him. This idea - please note that I didn't affix any specific comment about how we should change the NZ flag to this - links the two nations that founded this country (such as it is), it symbolises the partnership, or at least the intention of the partnership, with all the ties and obligations that inferred. Including the old with the new, and focusing on this partnership with each other, not Key's Tea Pee Pal's -Pissing-in-each-others-Pockets Party.

And particularly bearing in mind the recent decision of the Privy Council. Who are caught between a rock and a hard one really - who in their right mind would recommend a retrial after the travesties that were the first two trials of a gang glove puppet, used for political purposes.

We need to retain a little of the status quo until certain past agreements have been honoured because we can't trust our politicians, our Police, or our so called justice system.  Cutting ties with the Privy Council and the Treaty partner is dangerous and reckless. It has been established that Ngapuhi never ceded sovereignty, and Ngapuhi are presently politely telling the government where they can shove their unlawful 'mandate' also. This idea represents a binding of the partners to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and holds them to account for the past as we head into the future.

Honour the Treaty.
God save the Queen
Tihei Mauriora

Anyway, here's my humble contribution to the panel convened by Mr Key to choose the designs for his little referenda, if we were to change it to anything I think we should change it to this:

Copyright Katherine Raue 2015

Or, for the more traditional:

Copyright Katherine Raue 2015

Remember, remember, the 11th November - 2011, and a certain little tea party.

This is the government that grossly bungled the raid on Kim Dotcon, who legalised chemical "party drugs" because Peter Dunne's son was a stakeholder in the million dollar con run by Matthew Bowden and his mates - and were then forced to UN-legalise it less than 12 months later - how much did THAT cost again???

This is the same Prime Minister who was forced to "apologise to all New Zealanders" for illegally spying on Dotcon and the rest of us, but proclaimed that if you've got nothing to hide you've got nothing to fear - while running off to bleat to Police about Bradley Ambrose leaving a tape recorder on a table at a media stunt organised by Key and John Archibald Banks - who was convicted of electoral fraud after taking what amounted to bribes from Kim Dotcon - because that's the only way this sly talker can get 'elected' - even with all the help from Warwick Lampp and his mates at ElectioNZ.conjob.

Look at the photos below and tell me key didn't see this black bag - and what about his security staff???

"Gosh, is that your little handbag Johnny? 
No.  
Oh, must be mine then,  no worries eh, cheers mate, your shout?"

"Do you think we invited enough reporters to make sure I get in?"
"Hope so,  hard to tell, does my make up look ok?"
"Yes darl, the plastic surgery was a good touch too.
A real investment in your future"

I wouldn't buy a used car off either one of those two.

But I digress.  This design for our flag was inspired by my tupuna, and my whanau, whenua, maunga.  And from this design, created by Jamie Hurikino, representing our tūrangawaewae, Te Rawhiti.

- Jamie Hurikino

Our Original Flag:

UNITED TRIBES FLAG
The need for a flag to represent New Zealand was first raised in 1830, when the Hokianga-built trading ship Sir George Murray was seized in Sydney by Customs officials. Australia, New Zealand's major trading market, was subject to British navigation laws under which every ship was required to carry an official certificate detailing its construction, ownership and nationality. As New Zealand was not a
British colony, ships built there could not sail under a British flag or register. Without a flag, trading ships and their cargoes were liable to seizure.

Busby takes up the cause

James Busby
Soon after arriving in the Bay of Islands in 1833 to take up the position of British Resident, James Busby wrote to the Colonial Secretary in New South Wales suggesting the adoption of a New Zealand flag.

Aside from solving the impediment to trans-Tasman trade, Busby also saw a flag as a way to encourage Māori chiefs to work together, paving the way for some form of collective government. The Australian authorities were enthusiastic and some months later forwarded a possible design, four blue horizontal bands on a white background with the Union Jack at top left. This design was deemed unsuitable by Busby as it contained no red, 'a colour to which the New Zealanders are particularly partial, and which they are accustomed to consider as indicative of rank'.

The senior New Zealand-based missionary of the Church Missionary Society, Reverend Henry Williams, was enlisted to design an alternative flag. Williams drew on his experience as a lieutenant in the Royal Navy to draw up three designs, which New South Wales’ Governor Richard Bourke had sewn up and forwarded to Busby on HMS Alligator.

Maori chiefs choose a flag
On 20 March 1834, 25 Far North chiefs and their followers gathered at Busby’s residence at Waitangi to choose a flag to represent New Zealand. A number of missionaries, settlers and the commanders of 10 British and three American ships were also in attendance.

Maori beneath United Tribes flag
Maori beneath United Tribes flag
Following Busby's address, each chief came forward in turn to choose a flag, while the son of one of them recorded the votes. The most popular design, a flag already used by the Church Missionary Society, apparently received 12 votes, with the other two options preferred by 10 and three chiefs. Busby declared the chosen flag the national flag of New Zealand and had it hoisted on a flagpole to the accompaniment of a 21-gun salute from HMS Alligator.

The new flag was then sent back to New South Wales, from where – after some tweaking – it was despatched to King William IV. The King approved the rejigged flag, a drawing of which was circulated via the Admiralty with instructions to recognise it as New Zealand's flag. It came to be known as the Flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand, the title adopted by the group of northern chiefs at subsequent meetings.

South African War medal
United Tribes flag on Sth African War medal
Busby's hope that the flag would encourage Māori to act collectively was partially fulfilled when many of the chiefs involved met again to sign a Declaration of Independence in 1835. To northern Māori, the United Tribes flag meant that that Britain recognised New Zealand as an independent nation, and thereby acknowledged the mana of their chiefs.

The flag continued to fly in various places around the Bay of Islands, and on ships trading with Sydney. Ships calling at other ports spread it around the rest of New Zealand. The United Tribes flag remains relevant and important to Maori, particularly northern Māori, into the twenty first century.  This was the flag under which many Maori and British entered into a partnership, in good faith.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_tape_scandal

http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/pm-meet-banks-epsom-cw-104125# - Key has 'cup of tea' with Banks in Epson

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/election-2011/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503012&objectid=10768539 - Election 2011 - Key to win despite tea tape actions

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/election-2011/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503012&objectid=10794733 - Lawyer - Ambrose didn't act illegally

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/election-2011/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503012&objectid=10776366 - Crown should pay it's own tea tape bill

Mrs Y v NZ Police officers A B and C -

Have NZ Police learned nothing from the Louise Nicholas saga, the Malcolm Rewa fiasco, and all the other damning indictments on their competency and integrity in recent years?

Despite the glowing whitewash job of Phillipa Smith, the Attorney General, the NZ Police are getting worse, not better.

Since the Bazely report, which identified serious problems within the Police administration, culture, management and governance, confidence in the Police has continued to plummet.

Click on this link to view the report of the so called independent Police Conduct Authority regarding a sexual assault on vulnerable women by a hospital security guard, and the utterly disgraceful manner in which the NZ Police dealt with her complaints.

Police treated her with utter contempt, and did nothing whatsoever until another woman made a complaint against the same security guard and one of the officers involved realised that his senior officer had allowed this offender to continue his sleazy activities after the first victim had complained. 

- References -

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-Evc9gAoXg9cElsdHhReUhfcjA/view?usp=sharing

http://www.oag.govt.nz/2015/police-conduct

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0704/S00057.htm

http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/0704/CIPCVol1.pdf  - Link to Vol 1 of report

http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/0704/CIPCVol2.pdf  - Link to Vol 2 of the report

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0704/S00050.htm - Police Complaints Bill

http://laudafinem.com/2015/02/12/christchurchs-aborted-cyfs-sexual-abuse-trial-serious-prosecutorial-misconduct-or-simple-bungle/