Police driver lied to cover up crash error, court told

Photo / Richard Robinson

A police officer deliberately lied in court because he wanted to cover up his mistake which caused a road crash, a jury was told yesterday.

Neil Robert Ford, 56, a senior constable in Alexandra, is on trial in the Dunedin District Court for perjury .

The Crown says Ford caused a collision between his police Holden Rodeo and a Honda driven by a teenager near Alexandra in July 2005, but lied about it in court.

He claimed he was making a right-hand turn into a driveway when the other car "T-boned" his ute in Earnscleugh Rd.

As a result of his evidence, the other driver was convicted of careless driving causing injury.

But the driver, Shane Cribb, 17, claimed the police officer was doing a u-turn.

People campaigning on behalf of Mr Cribb obtained fresh evidence and an independent analysis of the crash, casting doubt on Ford's original evidence, and a rehearing was granted.

Police then offered no evidence and Mr Cribb's conviction was quashed.

Ford was subsequently charged with perjury, which he strongly denies.

Defence lawyer Nic Soper described Ford as a man with a dependable 30-year-record with the Ministry of Transport and the police.

And, he said, while it was accepted the evidence Ford gave at the January 2006 court hearing about where his vehicle was before he turned and the actual manoeuvre he carried out was incorrect, the issue for the jury was whether he deliberately lied with the intention of misleading the court.

- OTAGO DAILY TIMES