KEY POINTS:
Two members of the self-styled "Maori Police" have been cleared of allegations they sought money from Gisborne moteliers after two separate judges ruled all charges be dismissed.
Sue Wyliam Nikora, 70, and Elijah Matenga, 33, were jointly charged with demanding with menaces after they allegedly approached a Gisborne motelier for rent.
Matenga was also charged with impersonating a police officer and Nikora, who calls herself the Prime Minister of the Sovereign Government of Aotearoa, with being a party to that.
The charges related to incidents dating back to June last year, when it was alleged that Nikora purchased uniforms carrying the words Maori Police.
Matenga allegedly demanded money whilst wearing a uniform.
JPs previously ruled that there was insufficient evidence to go to trial on the menaces charges, but police re-laid the charges in December last year.
However, in a reserved High Court decision, Justice David Baragwanath ruled that the charges relating to demanding with menaces be discharged.
The conduct fell "short of the degree of antisocial character needed to justify trial", he said.
He said it was important that this decision not be misunderstood.
"The intrusion of persons making any form of demand with adverse consequence is likely to result, as has occurred in this case, in arrest and exposure to the serious charge of demanding menaces."
The "meticulous courtesy" on Matenga's part and the obvious lack of real apprehension on the complainant's part were major factors in leading him to conclude that the original decision to dismiss the charges was correct.
Charges relating to impersonating an officer were also dismissed, after a defended hearing before District Court Judge Stan Thorburn, who ruled that the defendants had "no case to answer".
Thorburn accepted a submission made by defence counsel Charl Hirschfeld that "the police had failed to establish a case against either Ms Nikora or Mr Matenga, since neither had attempted to impersonate a regular New Zealand police officer and in such case they did not therefore infringe the provision in the Police Act 1958 relied on by the police to charge the two".
- NZPA
