Cop facing charge given other duties

Northland police spokeswoman Sarah Kennett confirmed Richard Edward Soper was still working but was performing alternative duties.Photo / File

A Whangarei police constable facing a charge of assault is still working but is performing alternative duties.

Richard Edward Soper, 37, first appeared in the Whangarei District Court on December 17 last year and was given interim name suppression.

He re-appeared in court on Wednesday and was remanded on bail while dates for a judge-alone hearing are established.

The hearing may include evidence from a witness via video from the United Kingdom.

The alleged offence took place on August 28, 2014 but it is not clear whether Soper was on or off duty at the time.

Northland police spokeswoman Sarah Kennett confirmed Soper was still working but was performing alternative duties.

"We cannot comment about other employment matters, as they are confidential due to employment obligations.

"We cannot comment on any details of the case while it is before the court," she said.

In court on Wednesday, Anna Patterson of Thomson Wilson law stood in for Arthur Fairley as the defence lawyer and said a pre-trial hearing would not be required. Since there were 15 prosecution witnesses, she said three days would be needed for a judge-alone trial.

Judge Greg Davis said it seemed more time might be required because it was unlikely the court would get through all the witnesses in two days. An extra day would be needed to write up the judgment, he said.

Gul Qaisrani, who represented police, said the prosecution would try to reduce its witnesses from 15 to 11. He said there were four key witnesses and two might take a whole day giving evidence.

Mr Qaisrani would make an application for a police constable who was a prosecution witness but who now lived in the United Kingdom to give evidence via video link.

Judge Davis said arranging a video link may not be easy but allowed the prosecution time to make an application for the witness to give evidence through alternative ways.

Soper will reappear on April 30 when a trial date is expected to be set. He is the fourth police officer in Whangarei to appear on charges since 2009.