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A businessman who took on the Inland Revenue Department and won has succeeded in another battle, this time against the police, after an officer was found to have trespassed while serving him a driving notice.
Dave Henderson, a Christchurch property developer, has been awarded $1500 in damages by the Wellington District Court after suing the officer involved and the Attorney-General.
Mr Henderson's claim against police was launched after the officer - a sergeant - made a 3am visit to his inner-city apartment to serve a notice of disqualification from driving in April 2004.
The disqualification notice was served after Henderson accumulated more than 100 driving demerit points.
In a reserved judgement, Judge Susan Thomas rejected Mr Henderson's claim of misfeasance in public office by police, but found the officer had trespassed in serving the disqualification order on him.
The judge found the officer used his position to convince a night receptionist it was urgent he get access to Mr Henderson in his apartment, when it was not urgent.
Judge Thomas also found Mr Henderson gave a false name when the officer knocked on his door.
"It is reasonable that Mr Henderson would have been apprehensive and fearful of bad news, hearing a knock on the door at that time of the morning," she said.
"I do not accept [the officer's] evidence that most people would be simply annoyed in those circumstances.
"That reply is perhaps a reflection of [the officer's] 13 years as a policeman, indicating that maybe he has lost touch with how lay people would ordinarily react to a knock on the door by police at 3am."
Mr Henderson and the officer had had previous dealings over a liquor licence application, but the judge found no evidence of malice by the sergeant.
He had been instructed by his superior to serve the notice during his night shift, and the Land Transport agent had had difficulty serving the notice on Mr Henderson.
Mr Henderson, a close friend of Act Party leader Rodney Hide and the man behind a new $2 billion town near Queenstown, had sought $50,000 in general damages and exemplary damages, but he was awarded only $1500 by the judge. No exemplary damages were awarded.
Police could not be reached for comment on the decision last night, but Mr Henderson was jubilant.
"There's nothing more abhorrent than a public official abusing his powers or his authority," he said.
"If you see that happening you have an obligation to stand up to it before the Government devolves into one big bully."
He said the issue was not about money and police should have acted when he raised the incident with them.
"They're naive to think that when someone complains, that they're making it up, and they really should have just given me some kind of acknowledgement in the first place."
Mr Henderson's victory is his second against a Government department.
He fought the IRD for four years in a high-profile battle over tax payments, eventually winning a $65,000 refund after it claimed he owed $1 million.
The IRD has since advised Mr Henderson it is investigating his finances once again.
