Doone leak puts PM on the spot

The fact that a newspaper named a source of one of its stories about former Police Commissioner Peter Doone was a shock to the industry this week.

The fact that Prime Minister Helen Clark was the source who confidentially "verified" the story is perhaps less of a surprise.

She had been Labour leader for six years and in Opposition for nine. She talked often and widely to reporters, many of whom had her cellphone and home numbers.

Mr Doone and his wife, Robyn, dropped their defamation suit against the Sunday Star Times this week in favour of going after Helen Clark.

At issue are the news reports of the night Mr Doone's car, driven by Robyn Doone (then Johnstone), was stopped by a police patrol. The driver was not breath-tested or questioned after Mr Doone spoke to the constable.

The Doones discovered last month that Helen Clark had a role in the news report after the parties exchanged files of evidence of witnesses they planned to call.

Before the action was dropped, Helen Clark was to have been called for the Sunday Star Times without a subpoena. It appears she agreed to give evidence to prevent two things: first, to avoid having Parliament's Speaker, Margaret Wilson, subpoenaed to testify as former Attorney-General about aspects of Mr Doone's departure which she negotiated; and second, to avoid the possibility of having her own involvement revealed by someone else giving evidence during the case.

For a Government whose motto is "no surprises", that would have been the ultimate.

The brief of evidence, which is still secret, shows Helen Clark was spoken to five times for the story at the centre of the defamation suit: three times by reporter Oskar Alley, now with the Dominion Post, and twice by editor Suzanne Chetwin, now an executive of APN magazines.

The newspaper has tried to soften the focus on Helen Clark by saying she was not the original source - police sources were - and that she "verified" the story.

That still shocked the Doones enough to target the Prime Minister, who says she will "vigorously defend" any suit.

Papers filed by the High Court this week cast some doubt on whether the Doones will be able to make another claim. As part of the settlement, Mr Doone's lawyer agreed "not to make any further claims against the Government or any division or servant of the Government arising out of actions taken in the course of their duties leading to his retirement from office".

The couple will also have to seek the leave of the court to pursue a new case because it is well outside the two-year statute of limitation for filing defamation suits.

The Star Times ran the offending story on January 16, 2000, and later apologised. The fact that the Doones' car had been stopped by a patrol car six weeks earlier but the driver was not breath-tested had by then received extensive media coverage.

According to the newspaper, the commissioner had told the constable holding a breath-test device, "That won't be necessary". The paper later said this was wrong and apologised.

The police report into the case released some months later quotes the constable as saying the commissioner's words were, "'We'll be on our way' or words to that effect."

Some argue that the two phrases amount to the same thing; others say the first is a direct order and much more damaging in its implication than the more ambiguous phrase.

There are also rumours that the phrase cropped up during the police investigation but was withdrawn before the final police report.

By the time the article had been published, Helen Clark's new Government had both reports on the matter: the internal police one in the name of Deputy Police Commissioner Rob Robinson (who was appointed the next commissioner) and that of the Police Complaints Authority, Judge Neville Jaine.

The police report concluded that the commissioner's interaction with the constable was inappropriate.

Mr Robinson was in a difficult position: a favourable report may have appeared as though he were protecting his own. And an unfavourable report may have seemed to be in his own interest.

As is evident in the detailed report, however, Mr Robinson consulted widely before beginning the inquiry and instructed a superintendent to do the interviews and another superintendent to research issues of law.

But what is known from the chronology is that at the time the newspaper reported the offending words, Helen Clark already had in her possession the reports without the phrases.

And the fact that she talked to a newspaper five times on the story - which turns out to be wrong - looks puzzling, to say the least.

Once or twice might look like careful checking; five times is different.

No doubt she knew the young reporter Alley, who was earning a reputation for his excellent police sources.

He was part of a fiercely competitive cohort of gung-ho young reporters in newsrooms across the country who lived for the best cop/crime/spy/ scandals of the day and were often in cahoots with MPs.

He broke the story about the Auckland judge found to be accessing soft porn on his work computer.

Alley went on to make Helen Clark's life a misery by breaking the Paintergate story - a police investigation about a painting signed by her but not painted by her which was sold for charity.

The one area of concern that may worry Opposition parties - but certainly not journalists - is why she would be talking to reporters off the record on an issue of great sensitivity.

Alley, through his police contacts, was familiar with the police inquiry report on the commissioner.

Helen Clark was dealing with the first big test of her leadership. She was dealing with a reporter who knew as much as, and possibly more through his police sources, than her.

There had already been a view formed in the Government if not the public that the commissioner had to go; the only question was, would it be with or without a fight.

Naturally she wanted to influence his story: that is not unusual behaviour for any shade of Government.

As yet there has been no explanation about the offending phrase and how she came to "verify" it.

National and Act have been quick to impugn her motives.

It was an open secret that Labour was no fan of Commissioner Doone at the time it took office.

He had overseen the Incis computer debacle which had been the subject of Labour attacks for months.