Anger remains over wrongful jailing

Jaden Knight. Photo / Supplied

The families of two men wrongly jailed for arson are still angry at the officer in charge of the case, even with the government offering $350,000 in compensation.

Jaden Knight and Phillip Johnston of Lower Hutt spent nine months in jail for the 2004 arson.

Today Justice Minister Simon Power met one of the men and both mens' families to offer an apology and compensation.

Mr Johnston will receive $146,011 and Mr Knight $221,936.

The mothers of the men made statements to media after the meeting with Mr Power, both still harbouring a lot of resentment towards the officer in charge of the arson case, Peter Govers.

"We are still extremely concerned that the detective in charge of the
original investigation, Peter Govers, has not seen fit to admit he got it wrong and apologise for this mistake," said Neroli Edwards, mother of Mr Knight.

"One can only guess at how many others he has treated this way and are
convicted innocents, or in prison for the wrong crime, because of his
record that he 'always wins'.

"We're just a normal family and we do not want this happening to anyone
else."

Darrel Arcus, mother of Mr Johnston, became overwhelmed with emotion as she recounted what she had lost over the years.

"Missing his 30th birthday, missing Christmas with his family ... On his release, we picked him up from the Manawatu Prison and all he could say was 'smell the fresh air', 'listen to the cars', 'look at the street lights', which we take for granted."

She said Mr Johnston had received an anonymous death threat after he was found not guilty at his retrial.

"He had to move away from Wellington just for his own safety."

Mr Knight said he felt the minister's apology was sincere and genuine.

"I think I've got the strength in me to move on. It takes some time.
There's obviously some demons there that have to be sorted out, but I'll persevere and carry on."

He said he wanted the police officer he blamed for being wrongfully
convicted to be dealt with.

"Today is a dark day because we still feel it's unjust, and we don't feel that justice has been done quite yet."

Mr Power said the wrongful imprisonment of both men was a worry.

"I'm disturbed at the way the system treated Mr Johnston and Mr Knight," he said.

"The standards that New Zealanders expect of their justice system fell well short in this case."

It is understood today's meeting was the first face-to-face apology from a Minister of the Crown in a case of compensation for wrongful imprisonment.

Ahead of the meeting Mrs Arcus told the Herald it would be a bittersweet moment, because the pain of seeing her son go to jail would remain with her forever.

"The experience of it all has just shattered us and seeing my son behind bars, that was heartbreaking. I still wake up to the guilty verdict.

"I have never thought I would ever go through anything like what we've been through. Nobody has any idea what it's been like."

She said that it was satisfying to finally have an apology, but the compensation could not erase the nightmare.

"It's not about the compensation. It's the nine months my son was in prison that we can't take away. He should never have experienced that.

"I would have fought until I won because I knew my son was innocent from day one."

In 2003 Mr Knight and Mr Johnston were driving near Foxton when they heard on a scanner of a fire at the Manawatu Hotel. After they left, they heard on the scanner that police were looking for them.

They handed themselves in and made a statement at the Lower Hutt police station.

Two weeks later police searched their homes at dawn and brought them in for questioning in separate rooms.

The men were found guilty in a jury trial, but their mothers took up the fight - spending their retirement savings - and the Court of Appeal quashed the convictions in 2005.

Mr Johnston was found not guilty in a retrial, while Mr Knight's case was thrown out.

- with Newstalk ZB