Policewoman now accused of assault with weapon

Teenagers joined the couple and made obscene gestures at the Herald photographer outside the court.

A policewoman facing charges relating to the theft of a car and impersonating an officer has also been accused of a violent assault.

It has also emerged that Karis Rewa Charnley has married a man convicted of threatening to kill police officers and stealing a vehicle.

Last month the Herald revealed Charnley, 39, had been charged in relation to the theft of a Mitsubishi Evo worth $11,000 and with using a police uniform in circumstances likely to lead a person to believe she was a police employee.

It is understood Charnley was not physically involved in stealing the car, but allegedly supplied her police uniform to those who were.

Details of the third charge were revealed in the North Shore District yesterday.

Police allege that on February 13 Charnley assaulted 19-year-old Jerome Kino with a blunt instrument. They say she used a spanner as a weapon during the assault.

Mr Kino is the owner of the stolen Evo. He claims two men, one in a police uniform, went to his house, and told his mother they were impounding his car.

They said Mr Kino, who was not home at the time, was suspected of being involved in a hit-and-run.

Charnley has pleaded not guilty to all three charges and was remanded on bail until her next appearance in April.

Charnley, who featured in a television show about police recruits, arrived at court with a man believed to be her new husband.

She married Steven Benjamin Sawers, a fisherman 13 years younger than her, at the Auckland registry office 10 days ago.

In 2008, Sawers was convicted on four charges of threatening to kill, theft of a motor vehicle and car conversion.

In June that year police made a public appeal through the Herald for sightings of Sawers, now 26.

At the time, he was wanted for making threats to kill in a series of text messages he sent to a woman he used to live with.

Officers helped the woman leave her home and Sawers then threatened to kill her boyfriend and the police.

They said he was dangerous and should not be approached.

He is also due to be sentenced in April on his third or subsequent charge of driving while disqualified.

Despite being suspended from duty since last year, Charnley listed "police officer" as her occupation on the marriage certificate. It is her second marriage.

The couple wed on Monday February 27, a a day after a late-night attack on the Devonport home in which Charnley lives with her parents.

In the attack, carloads of people smashed beer bottles through windows and tore down fences.

It is not known who was behind the attack, and police are still investigating.

Charnley sat with the man in the back of the court awaiting her appearance. Both wore wedding rings and she rested her head on his shoulder, as she waited for her name to be called.

Several teenagers joined the couple in court and later made obscene gestures at a Herald photographer in the carpark outside.

Police have refused to say why Charnley was suspended as it was an "employment issue" that was still being investigated.

But a source said Charnley's suspension was the result of a number of disciplinary matters, including who she was associating with.