Police talking to minister over 'assault'

Pete Hodgson

The police will speak to Cabinet minister Pete Hodgson after a Dunedin protester yesterday laid a complaint of assault against him, claiming he physically prevented her waving a "speed kills" sign behind Prime Minister Helen Clark as she was being filmed at a press conference.

Madeleine Flannagan, a former Christian Heritage candidate, said the protest at Otago University was against the speeding motorcade.

Ms Flannagan said she was entitled to wave around her sign - which was a piece of paper - but a man, whom she did not recognise at first, pulled one of her arms down to prevent her from holding it up.

"This hand grabbed my arms and yanked my arm down and pinned it to my side and this body is right up against me and I turned my head thinking it was some kind of student radical and I come face to face with Pete Hodgson who is eye-balling, like glaring at me, two centimetres away from my nose," said the 32-year-old mother of four.

It was not until she yelled out that a minister was assaulting her that he let go, she said.

"It was a peaceful protest. but all of a sudden someone was trying to stop me doing it."

Senior Sergeant Steve Aitken said Mr Hodgson, the Dunedin North MP, would be spoken to.

Mr Hodgson said last night that the woman's motives were not clear at first.

"She started to move forward to Helen and she started to bring her arms forward and I could see it was within the bounds of possibility that she was going to bring this paper sign down on her head."

He said he reached up and got hold of one of her wrists. "After she had said, 'I'm not going to touch her, I'm not going to touch her', I let her go."

She had then shouted out that she had been assaulted by a minister.