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The Dominion Post
April 9, 2003
Falsely accused man walks free
by Fran Tyler
Former Olympic boxer Tone Fiso walked from Porirua District Court a free man
after spending more than two months in prison accused by a young female
relative of committing horrific sex crimes.
Police withdrew charges yesterday after it was discovered the 18-year-old had
falsely accused someone else in 1999.
The woman told police Mr Fiso had repeatedly raped her since she was a child,
as well as sodomising her.
Relief mixed with anger yesterday as Mr Fiso, 37, walked free from court
after charges of indecent assault, rape and unlawful sexual connection were
dismissed by Judge Barry Lovegrove.
Defence lawyer Val Nisbet said the impact of the false allegations on Mr Fiso
and his family had been enormous. "But his only means of redress is to
complain to the Police Complaints Authority. He was devastated at the nature
and extent of the charges. It was hoped at least that police would indicate their
regret."
Supported by his wife outside court, the former professional boxer, who
represented New Zealand
at the 1992 Seoul Olympics, was angry about what happened.
As Mr Fiso, a father of five, was about to graduate from a social work
course, his world was turned upside down on February 3. While he was at the
gym, two detectives arrived saying they needed him to come to the police
station to discuss some allegations. After being questioned for hours, he was
charged and held till the next day, when he appeared in court and was
remanded in custody.
He was subjected to physical and mental abuse, he said. "I couldn't eat,
couldn't think, couldn't sleep. I feared for my life. In jail on those
charges your life's on the line 24 hours a day. They tried to beat me up,
they'd spit in my food, that's if you got any."
Mr Nisbet made two applications for bail, but the first was declined and the
second, in the High Court at Wellington
on March 18, was adjourned for police to find out more information about alleged
threats. Mr Fiso later discovered police had the information they said they
were seeking.
He says the police did not do their job properly. If they had checked, they
would have found earlier false allegations made by the woman against a former
teacher.
Police had put many hours into the case, searched his house, interviewed his
family and compiled a file more than two inches thick, he said. "And
they never once bothered to check the complainant."
Kapiti Mana police area controller Inspector John Spence would not comment on
Mr Fiso's case yesterday.
The Fisos have also been hit financially. Mr Fiso has been offered no
counselling nor help to put his family's life back together.
He plans to complain to the Police Complaints Authority, hoping to get an
apology and compensation for his ordeal. "I haven't got a figure in
mind. But how much is a man's name worth? How much is a man's family
worth?"
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