Last Tuesday, in the interests of presenting a more complete picture of the Waitara shooting, the New Zealand Herald
gathered some information about the policeman who fired the fatal shots. It was important to do so. By then, two days
after the shooting, people were jumping to conclusions about the character and motives of the police involved.
The police, as is their practice when one of their own faces an inquiry, were saying very little. On the night the
police realised the Herald was preparing to publish something about the officer, they sought and obtained an injunction
from the New Plymouth District Court barring his identification. On Friday the Herald successfully applied to the High
Court at Auckland to overturn that injunction and can, today, publish some facts we believe are important to public
knowledge about a matter of serious concern.
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