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Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
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A Wellington police
constable has been cleared of charges of intimidation and insulting language
made against him by a Porirua teenager. Wellington District
Court judge Avinash Deobhakta said yesterday he had no reason not to believe
the word of the constable, who had denied the charges. He dismissed both
charges and permanently suppressed his name. The Crown had alleged
the constable had called 17-year-old Maululu Vaoese a "lying
nigger" and threatened to set a police dog on him when he did not tell
the truth about being involved in the break-in of an off-duty police
officer's car on October 26 2003. Mr Vaoese's cousin had
been responsible for the break-in. Judge Deobhakta said
the constable had questioned Mr Vaoese on the roadside about where he had
been and what he had been doing then asked what he had done with a bag he was
believed to have. The judge said it was a coincidence that the off-duty
police officer had given a description of two young men with bags when Mr
Vaoese had never had a bag, but it led to a fruitless search by a dog handler
and police dog. He said in the end the
case was the constable's unblemished record and word against the assertions
of Mr Vaoese, who had had a previous encounter with the law. |
