McDowell says words mangled

Former All Black Steve McDowell says he complained about Operation Austin after one of its allegedly detectives mangled his words to falsely make out he was a "womaniser" in the 1980s.

Mr McDowell's complaint to the Independent Police Conduct Authority was thrown out with those of his long time friend Clint Rickards yesterday.

The IPCA review did not detail what Mr McDowell's complaint involved but he told the Herald it was because of an unsigned police statement that was "completely inaccurate".

He said he was contacted by an Operation Austin detective early in the investigation because of his association with Mr Rickards at the time of the alleged offending in the early 1980s.

Mr McDowell said he gave a statement that was not required for any court action but later saw it and was surprised to find it had him saying "I was out all the time womanising".

He said Clint Rickards' lawyer John Haigh, QC, had obtained the statement during disclosure and shown it to him where he identified a number of errors and became angry with the officer.

Mr McDowell then decided to give defence evidence for Mr Rickards at a trial this year where he was acquitted of alleged sexual offending against a Rotorua woman. Mr McDowell said he believed the officer had changed his statement because it was supportive of Mr Rickards and that didn't fit with the inquiry.

He said he believed the officer wanted to make Mr Rickards look bad "by making me look bad".

"I'm not a lawyer or anything but this sort of stuff needs to be challenged. Our police force needs to be squeaky clean," Mr McDowell said.