Ex-immigration head in court

Former Immigration Service chief executive Mary Anne Thompson believed "in her head" she was a London university accredited PhD, a court was told today.

Thompson was appearing at a depositions hearing in Wellington District Court to decide whether she should stand trial on fraud and dishonesty charges.

She faces two charges of using a document with intent to defraud and one of dishonestly attempting to use a document without claims of right.

Thompson resigned from her post in the Labour Department last year after being accused of a conflict of interest for helping family members gain residency in New Zealand.

It was also alleged that she did not have a doctorate from the London School of Economics that many people many believed she had.

The charges relate to separate incidents in 1989, 1998 and 2004 when Thompson applied for different public service jobs.

Crown solicitor Grant Burston said Thompson told employers , in a number of job applications for public service senior management roles, she had a Doctorate of Philosophy degree from the London School of Economics.

During a police interview in March 2008, she told police she believed "in her head" she had been awarded the degree.

However, she also acknowledged to police she had not been awarded either a Masters or a Doctorate degree, he said.

Mr Burston said Thompson had attended the institution, though had not met the requirements to be awarded the qualification.

One of the academics checking a draft of her thesis told her it was "about half way between a masters and a PhD and needed a lot of work", Mr Burston told the court.

In 1989, she had submitted her doctoral thesis to an academic board three times.

Thompson's lawyer, Robert Lithgow, said his client was not aware she had to go to London for an oral exam to discuss her thesis with a panel of academics to complete her PhD.

Evidence will be presented from 29 prosecution witnesses, including three from the London School of Economics who would give evidence by video link tomorrow.

- NZPA