Golriz Ghahraman has resigned after allegations of shoplifting. The Green MP said that her mental health had been “badly affected” by the stress of her work as an MP. Video / Supplied / NZ Herald
Golriz Ghahraman says police never charged any of the people who threatened her while in politics;
Police have changed the statement issued last week which said Golriz Ghahraman would not be charged;
Leo Molloy says he has been offered a viewing of the video of the shopping incident.
Police have been accused of being “weird” and “obsessed” by former MP Golriz Ghahraman after refusing to change a public statement in which it bluntly stated an item was “taken” from the Pak’n Save where she was shopping.
The same statement emailed out by the police communications team also described the incident unequivocally as “shoplifting”.
That was changed and now refers to an “alleged” instance of shoplifting after the intervention of high-profile criminal barrister Ron Mansfield KC.
Former Green Party of Aotearoa MP Golriz Ghahraman arriving at Auckland District Court, where she was sentenced for shoplifting. Photo / Michael Craig
Ghahraman has spoken to the Herald about her dissatisfaction with police priorities.
“It’s weird to see NZ Police so obsessed with this non-issue, when they never once brought a charge in relation to any of the extremist threats I received for six years as an MP,” Ghahraman said.
“Nor have they even acknowledged the public outrage about police information being leaked, not least to someone like Leo Molloy.”
The comments from Ghahraman come as Molloy, a well-known Auckland restaurateur, claims to have been told the video of Ghahraman in Pak’n Save is circulating and that he was offered the chance to view it.
Molloy said he had no regrets posting a social media video in early January in which he spoke of a former Green MP about to face police attention.
Ghahraman was subjected to constant threats of death and physical and sexual violence during her seven years as an MP. Former Greens co-leader James Shaw has previously said police were involved but Ghahraman now says no one was ever charged.
In contrast, the shoplifting allegation involved one item of $40 which Pak’N Save Royal Oak claimed was missing after it stopped Ghahraman while she was shopping and asked her to empty her bags.
The incident unfolded on October 12 and Ghahraman was identified by police two days later through screening shoplifting alerts on the surveillance platform Auror.
The information was then passed to the Auckland-based detective senior sergeant handling the inquiry which resulted with Ghahraman pleading guiltyto four charges of shoplifting from high-end fashion shops during 2023.
Leo Molloy says he had no regrets about his social media video that surfaced claims against ex-MP Golriz Ghahraman.
Police then unsuccessfully attempted to have the incident included in a judge’s consideration of Ghahraman’s High Court appeal against her sentence, which she lost.
Then, despite lawyers telling the Herald there was little chance of conviction, police waited more than three months before issuing the statement in which the incident was labelled shoplifting - and then issuing the statement again a day later, adding “allegedly”.
The conflict between the original police statement and the following statement was the difference between someone being convicted and someone facing an allegation.
It is believed it was this which prompted Mansfield to write to police.
None of the statements issued by police referred to Ghahraman by name although clearly referred to her.
A spokesman for police said the agency had “taken care” when receiving media queries to not identify who was the focus of police inquiries.
“In advising no charges have been filed, there was no inference (in the statement) that an offence was committed.”
However in relation to the change made to the statement, the spokesman said: “We have been in contact with the individual’s legal counsel and made a small clarification to our statement.”
That was Mansfield’s interjection after the original statement declared: “Auckland City Police have completed inquiries into a shoplifting in late 2024.”
It now says: “Auckland City Police have completed inquiries into a report of shoplifting in late 2024.”
It also originally said: “The shoplifting occurred at the Pak’nSave in Royal Oak on 12 October 2024, and was reported to police for investigation electronically using the Auror platform.”
The sentence now begins: “The shoplifting is alleged to have occurred …”
Golriz Gharahman outside the Auckland District Court in March 2024 where she pleaded guilty to four charges of shoplifting. Photo / Dean Purcell
While Molloy did not name Ghahraman in his social post that brought the issue to public attention, it was quickly followed by a media outlet identifying her as the person facing police queries.
“I didn’t even name her,” Molloy said, adding that it was media who had made the decision to do so. He said “everyone’s a winner” after police announced no charges would be laid.
Molloy said he had been approached by someone who claimed to have a copy of the Pak’n Save video if he wanted to see it. He had not, as yet, but believed the video existed.
Police have previously rejected any suggestion it was the source of the information of the Pak’n Save incident coming out. It has said that a number of parties were aware of the information.
The Herald has tracked the first social media reference to the October incident to a December Twitter post. Around the time Molloy’s profile boosted the claim, a small blog site posted similar although scant information.
A spokeswoman for police said there were 283 incidents logged relating to MPs between September 2018 the end of 2023. She said these were taken “extremely seriously”.
“However, as many of these types of threats are from anonymous sources online, it is often incredibly difficult for Police Intel and other staff to determine the identity of an individual, and therefore pursue any further action,” the police spokeswoman said.
“When there is sufficient evidence to prosecute, police will not hesitate to do so”.
David Fisher is based in Northland and has worked as a journalist for 35 years, winning multiple journalism awards including being twice named Reporter of the Year and being selected as one of a small number of Wolfson Press Fellows to Wolfson College, Cambridge. He first joined the Herald in 2004.
Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
