Please attribute to Mid/South Canterbury Area Commander Inspector Dave Gaskin:
Police acknowledge the findings of an Independent Police Conduct Authority report into an allegation officers deliberately mishandled evidence found with a man during an arrest in 2017.
The man was arrested in Ashburton in May 2017 and charged with possessing methamphetamine. Police referred the matter to the IPCA after the court case was dismissed.
The IPCA found that while officers did not correctly follow Police procedures during the man’s arrest, there was no evidence to suggest that his wallet was placed in a bag containing methamphetamine in order to incriminate him, as the man claimed.
As a result of the investigation officers in the Mid-South Canterbury Area will receive additional training across a number of areas including Search and Surveillance Act procedures, exhibit handling, and prosecution preparation.
ENDS
Issued by Police Media Centre