In recent decades the justice system has looked increasingly
fragile with court cases such as of Arthur Allan Thomas and David Bain who were
convicted then cleared of blame.
Then there was the David Tamihere case
where perjury abounded and the convicted was released after serving 20 years of
a life imprisonment sentence. And there’s the oft-debate about whether
convicted Scott Watson is guilty or not.
Justice is not always served.
So what of Allan Titford who in 1987 was driven off his farm
by New Zealanders claiming Maori rights? His case is peculiar. In a single
trial several years later he was tried on 53 charges involving assault, arson
and rape.
Radio NZ in typically emotive poor journalism racist tones
described Alan Titford as “an anti-Treaty activist.”
True that Alan Titford was prominent for his 20-year
campaign against the Waitangi Tribunal and the Treaty of Waitangi after a land
claim led to the sale of his farm to the Crown in the 1990s.
Judge Harvey sentenced Titford to a unprecedented cumulative
term of 24 years in prison and said the 53-year-old had subjected his wife and
family to violent abuse in a "reign of terror" that dated back to
1989.
But author Mike Butler of “24 Years - The Trials of Alan
Titford” at the time was researching treaty settlements and in visiting Alan Titford described him as “a stocky, quietly spoken, well mannered man,” that
did not fit Judge Harvey’s description. Things just didn’t stack up.
Others at the time who took a strong interest in the case
described Alan Titford’s conviction as based on flimsy and suspect evidence.
Underlying it was the role of the Waitangi Tribunal, in itself, lacking
credibility.
The final sentence in itself was incredible. Twenty four
years of imprisonment is more than a sentence a murderer might receive.
Author Mike Butler pulls no punches and in the first couple
of pages of his large book, describes “the evidence put before the court was at
best, skimpy and contradictory.” Alan Titford’s wife at the time, Susan,
emerges as a key witness lacking credibility. For example she allegedly wrote
to the Minister of Justice seeking guidance on perjury - but using an assumed
name. Then letters she had written to Prime Minister David Lange, contradicted
evidence she gave at Allan’s trial in 2013.
Incredibly she admitted to providing false information to a
court while under oath and told the court she was sick of lying.
As for Allan previously, the police seemingly on a witch
hunt, had charged him five times over 22 years and four times he was acquitted
and his only conviction was over-turned on appeal.
The court processes relating to the 2013 case were poor yet
a 2017 appeal failed to examine the flaws in the trial. So Alan Titford has
been “sitting in jail as a result of questionable convictions and sentencing.”
The record 24 year jail term is bizarre in itself.
The book at 333 pages is detailed and comprehensive but as
the lies and injustices unravel is never tedious but is absorbing reading.
Author Mike Butler has methodically laid out the facts and subsequent questions
that arise.
Guilty or not guilty? The book is a compelling read that
should be a strong vehicle to Alan Titford getting a fair trial.
Tony Orman, once a town and country planner, is now a part-time journalist and author.
24 Years -the trials of Allan Titford, by
Mike Butler, Limestone Bluff Publishing, 339 pages, illustrated, $39.50,
available from book shops or www.trosspublishing.co.nz
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