KEY POINTS:
The alleged offending took 24 seconds, the ensuing prosecution nearly two years, and a jury today took just 40 minutes to acquit a police dog handler accused of using his dog as a weapon.
The dog handler was granted permanent name suppression after a five-day defended hearing in Wellington District Court this week.
He was charged with using his dog as a weapon against Mongrel Mob prospect Samuel Wilby in the early hours of January 24, 2005.
Mr Wilby had stolen a van, and led police in a chase from Wellington to Lower Hutt, where he was apprehended with the assistance of a police dog.
Mr Wilby received minor bite injuries during the incident.
The Crown alleged the accused man had set his dog on to Mr Wilby after he had already been restrained by another officer, Constable Jason Spence.
Mr Spence testified he had Mr Wilby under control when the accused pulled him away and set his dog on him.
Crown prosecutor David Laurenson said the accused then took a leatherman-type multi-tool from Mr Wilby's van and planted it on the ground to justify using the dog.
He pointed to inconsistencies in the accused's statement of fact, incident reports, and evidence given in court
Defence counsel Mike Antunovic said the accused had seen the multi-tool in Mr Wilby's hand and had released the dog in defence of Mr Spence.
The arrest was the first time Mr Spence had been involved in a police pursuit, or seen dog handlers in action.
In contrast, the accused was an experienced dog handler accustomed to dealing with police pursuits.
The time from the accused releasing his dog, to taking it back to his van and calling police communications to say an arrest was made took 24 seconds.
Mr Antunovic said there was no way he could have planted the multi tool within that time frame without being seen.
The dog handler told the jury this week he was "disgusted" with his police bosses for prosecuting him over the incident.
He had never had another complaint made about him, and the prosecution had taken its toll on him and his family.
Mr Wilby appeared as witness this week after spending the night in custody, charged with car conversion.
Mr Antunovic said he was a hardened career criminal, and his testimony, which the prosecution relied upon, was not credible.
The trial, before Judge Susan Thomas, was the second the accused had been through, with the jury at the first trial, in June, unable to reach a verdict.
Through a spokesman, the dog handler said he was pleased that the matter had finally come to an end.
He did not wish to comment further, but thanked everyone who had supported him and his family.
- NZPA
