Witness told police he lied

By EUGENE BINGHAM and ALISON HORWOOD

Police admit knowing that a secret witness wanted to withdraw his damning testimony against Scott Watson - but they failed to act because they questioned his motives.

Assistant Commissioner Paul Fitzharris said last night that police saw Witness A's decision to recant as nothing more than an attempt to shed his reputation as a prison nark.

But the Police Complaints Authority has decided to investigate after the Weekend Herald reported that the witness, who shared a cell with Watson, now says he lied to the Sounds double-murder trial.

Detective Superintendent Peter Marshall, of Auckland, was yesterday seconded to the authority to examine Witness A's allegations that he was pushed into giving false testimony.

Witness A emerged from hiding yesterday to contact family members concerned for his safety since a failed suicide attempt last week.

A close relative, who has monitored his mental health since his release from prison in March, said he was dealing with the pressure. The family have hired a lawyer to protect his rights.

Witness A was one of 490 people who testified against Watson during a 13-week trial in the High Court at Wellington last year.

Watson is serving a life sentence for killing Blenheim friends Olivia Hope and Ben Smart, who disappeared in the Marlborough Sounds on New Year's Day, 1998.

Witness A told the jury Watson confessed to him in a cell at Addington Prison, when they were both on remand. But in a taped interview with the Weekend Herald last week, he accused police of leaning on him and said Watson never admitted to any involvement in the killings.

Mr Fitzharris said last night that Witness A told police in February or March that he wanted to recant his evidence.

A police officer went to the North Island prison where he was being held on unrelated charges and spoke to him.

The officer decided not to take the matter further because he believed Witness A had become scared about being known as a police informer.

"That is what the police felt, but it was open for interpretation by anybody, including the defence," said Mr Fitzharris.

Watson's defence lawyer Bruce Davidson also met the man, but he refused to sign an affidavit or agree to a taped interview.

Mr Fitzharris said the reason for the complaints authority inquiry was to look at the allegations of police misconduct. But he believed police had acted appropriately in their dealings with Witness A and that he was not subjected to any pressure.

Witness A had made the first approach to the police and detectives had arranged independent legal advice for him at the time, said Mr Fitzharris.

In his interview with the Weekend Herald, Witness A said a Christchurch lawyer, Philip Divett, was initially involved in helping him but was then "shut out."

"Phil cautioned me and said you don't have to talk to them and then [a detective] took him out of the room," said Witness A.

Mr Divett, who now works for the Ministry of Justice, declined to comment on the case without his former client's permission.

If Watson's lawyers appeal to the Governor-General on the basis of Witness A's retraction, a Ministry of Justice legal team will decide whether the case is referred back to the Court of Appeal.