R v Blowers - [2014] NZHC 3062

ORDER PROHIBITING PUBLICATION OF NAME, ADDRESS, OCCUPATION OR IDENTIFYING PARTICULARS OF WITNESS PURSUANT TO S 202 CRIMINAL PROCEDURE ACT 2011.

IN THE HIGH COURT OF NEW ZEALAND WHANGAREI REGISTRY

CRI-2013-088-001070 [2014] NZHC 3062

THE QUEEN

v

MICHAEL DAVID BLOWERS

Charges:
Plea: Appearances:

Supplying methamphetamine x1

Theft x1

Guilty

M B Smith for Crown
A Fairley and P J Magee for Prisoner

Sentenced:

3 December 2014

SENTENCING NOTES OF VENNING J

Solicitors: Crown Solicitor, Whangarei
Thomson Wilson, Whangarei

Copy to: P Hamlin, Whangarei

R v BLOWERS [2014] NZHC 3062 [3 December 2014]

[1] Michael David Blowers, at the age of 51 and with a background of service to the community as a senior police officer you are for sentence on one charge of supplying methamphetamine and one charge of theft.

[2] The agreed summary of facts records that, prior to your resignation in March last year you had served in the New Zealand Police for 21 years. At the time of your resignation you were a Detective Sergeant in the Northland District. In the course of your role with the police you came into contact with a number of informants. One female informant in particular led to your downfall. Your initial legitimate contact with her developed into an inappropriate and intimate relationship. You were instructed by your supervisors as early as 2002 to have no further contact with her. Despite that direction you continued to meet the informant on a personal basis. The frequency of your meetings increased. As a result, an internal police employment investigation commenced in December 2011.

[3] By this time you held the position of officer-in-charge of the Northland Police Organised Crime Unit. You and the Unit were involved in investigations into criminal offending, involving controlled drugs. During the course of those investigations drugs were seized as exhibits for analysis or destruction. You managed and had access to the controlled drugs secured at the police station.

[4] On 17 October 2011 police executed a search warrant at the Burgundy Rose Motel on Kamo Road. Fifty-eight grams of methamphetamine were seized. A small sample was taken to be sent to the ESR for analysis. The remaining methamphetamine was then transferred to a separate bag so the original bag could be analysed for fingerprints. Approximately 56 grams was transferred to that separate bag for storage.

[5] On 19 October 2011 you uplifted the 56 gram bag of methamphetamine from the secure drugs store at the Whangarei Police Station and transferred it to the bulk drug store located in a different area of the police station. At some point you separated approximately 34 grams of methamphetamine from that separate bag and replaced it with rock salt so that it still weighed approximately 56 grams. You then

returned the bag containing the mixture of methamphetamine and rock salt to the original drugs store to disguise your theft.

[6] You also began regularly supplying the female informant with methamphetamine for her to on-sell from time to time. The amounts varied but were…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

Continue reading R v Blowers

Details

AGLC: R v Blowers [2014] NZHC 3062
Case: [2014] NZHC 3062
Decision Date: 3 December 2014

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Michael David Blowers, a former senior police officer, was sentenced in the High Court of New Zealand for charges of supplying methamphetamine and theft. Blowers had served the New Zealand Police for 21 years and was a Detective Sergeant before his resignation. His offending began with an inappropriate relationship with a female informant, which led to the theft of drugs from the police station and the supply of methamphetamine to the informant. The court heard that Blowers had stolen 56 grams of methamphetamine from the police station and replaced it with rock salt, and that he had supplied the informant with methamphetamine from the stolen drugs. The court accepted Blowers' guilty plea and found him remorseful, with a low risk of reoffending.

The court had to decide on the appropriate sentence for Blowers, taking into account the purposes and principles of the Sentencing Act, the gravity of the offending, personal culpability, and the seriousness of the charges. The court also considered the impact of Blowers' actions on the reputation of the police force and the trust placed in them by the community. The starting point for the sentence was set at seven years and three months, with mitigating factors such as Blowers' previous good character and contributions to the community, his genuine remorse, and the guilty plea reducing the sentence by 11 months and 25%, respectively.

Blowers was sentenced to imprisonment for four years and nine months on the charge of supplying methamphetamine and two years and three months on the charge of theft, with the sentences running concurrently. The effective sentence was four years and nine months. Blowers was also discharged on the count of supplying cannabis as the Crown offered no evidence on that count. The court emphasized the importance of holding individuals accountable for their actions and the need to denounce and deter similar conduct in the future.

Orders