Constable Josh Van Der Kwaak and Caesar (both pictured) tracked the man to the mangroves where he was allegedly assaulted by officer Taylor Morgan. Photo/ File
When a sergeant arrived at an arrest scene, he saw blood pouring from a man’s head and heard him ask, “Why did that police officer hit me?”
The sergeant turned to another constable, who allegedly nodded, confirming the man’s alleged account.
Whangārei tactical unit police officer Taylor Stephen Morgan, 30, is on trial for assault with a blunt instrument after Mathew Sinclair was injured during an arrest.
The Crown alleges Morgan struck Sinclair twice: first with his fist and then with a 40mm sponge round launcher.
On January 10, 2023, Constable Hayden Waetford and a colleague were patrolling Tauroa St in Raumanga, Whangārei, when they spotted wanted man Nicky Lemon driving by.
Sinclair was in the car with Lemon, and the vehicle headed north up Kōtata Rise before spinning out and landing on a verge.
Lemon and Sinclair fled, prompting a response from Waetford, a police dog and the tactical unit.
Officers Morgan and Chris McClure arrived, with McClure deploying a drone while Morgan and Waetford followed the dog, Caesar and officer Joshua Van Der Kwaak into mangroves.
Waetford gave evidence Caesar soon caught a scent and took off. That was followed by barking and a man’s screams.
They found Sinclair on the ground with Caesar latched onto his right arm, while Sinclair waved his left arm in surrender, saying, “You’ve got me”.
“We were told to cuff him before releasing the dog, so we approached,” Waetford said.
“As we got closer, Taylor punched Sinclair on the left side of the head, cutting his eyebrow.”
Waetford stated Morgan then struck Sinclair with the barrel end of a 40mm launcher, hitting him on the left front of his skull.
As they brought Sinclair back to the patrol car, Sergeant Craig Curnow arrived and heard Sinclair constantly asking, “Why did that cop hit me? Why was I assaulted?”.
“My sergeant looked at me like ‘did that happen?’ Because he had a lot of blood coming from his head and I looked at him as if to say ‘yeah’ and nodded,” Waetford said.
Waetford told the court he had thought about the incident multiple times since and Morgan’s actions were inappropriate.
“It’s not what I want to be recognised for as a police officer. They see one acting like that then they see us all like that,” Waetford said.
Morgan’s lawyer, Arthur Fairley, suggested Waetford’s recollection was incorrect, arguing the launcher had accidentally hit Sinclair as it swung from Morgan’s body.
“My client had one hand on the pistol and the other on Sinclair,” Fairley argued.
“No,” Waetford insisted. “It was a punch, followed by a deliberate strike with the gun.”
“The first strike it was an open palm push,” Fairley put to Waetford
“No, it was a punch,” Waetford replied.
“I’m suggesting that’s wrong, it was an open hand,” Fairley said.
“No, it was a punch.”
“I suggest you saw my client in close contact with Sinclair. He got his left hand on the trigger and the barrel has hit Sinclair causing the injury,” Fairley said.
“No, I think it would be hard to mistake a deliberate strike to the head as opposed to it swinging. I wish it happened that way otherwise, I wouldn’t be in this situation.
“I know what I saw,” Waetford said.
Sinclair told the court the gun strike “smoked me” and knocked him out, adding, “It came straight down”.
Fairley challenged Sinclair’s account, saying he was confused about which end of the launcher struck him.
Sinclair responded: “What does it matter what end it is?”
Several Whangārei officers are expected to give evidence for the Crown including Van Der Kwaak and a senior sergeant.
Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.
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