Woman accusing top cop of sexual assault once praised him in letter

Kevin Burke stands in the dock, accused of sex crimes. Photo / Dean Purcell

A letter of praise about a top cop authored by a woman who now accuses him of sexual assault has been unearthed.

The woman, whose name is suppressed by law, is one of two women accusing Detective Inspector Kevin Stephen Burke of sexual assault.

Burke, who is based in Northland, denies all four charges he faces and is on trial before a jury in the High Court at Auckland.

The woman returned to court to give evidence on the letter after earlier this week denying being romantically involved with either Burke or a conman he was investigating.

In a letter, dated January 11, 2002 and addressed to the police commissioner, she praised Burke - she explained to the court it felt "fantastic" to be believed.

The woman said in her letter that the man – later revealed to be a fraudster – whom she "had been seeing for the previous four months" was not the person she believed him to be.

The conman told her he divorced his wife after his daughter died tragically. The woman was also led to believe he was a property developer, she wrote.

But that was not the case and he rummaged through her files at her home and stole money from her, the letter continued.

Until speaking to Burke the woman said she did not feel believed by anyone.

And if not for the contact with him she would have "walked away from ever having contact with police".

"Please don't get me wrong, the entire situation was bizarre to say the least," she wrote to police.

Two senior police officers returned her correspondence assuring her the praise would be passed on to Burke.

Today she told the court she did not remember writing the letter or receiving the responses.

Defence lawyer Arthur Fairley argued she had a coffee date with Burke before writing the letter.

"I have never had coffee with Kevin Burke, I'm not too sure how many times I have to keep telling you," she replied.

Fairley asked why she had not withdrawn the letter after he was alleged to have assaulted her on January 17, 2002.

"Who would have believed me?" she said.

The trial continues tomorrow.