POLICE SETTLE IN CLAIM OVER FALSE EVIDENCE

WELLINGTON - The police have reached a settlement with a man who claimed
$850,000 in damages after being arrested on fabricated evidence.

The High Court at Palmerston North found in 1998 that two police officers
altered evidence against Dannevirke man Craig Withey, aged 29, then lied
about it.

But the jury did not award Mr Withey damages.

He then went to the Court of Appeal, which ruled that the jury's verdict
was inconsistent, and ordered a new trial.

But papers have been filed in the court discontinuing the case, and a
police statement yesterday said a settlement had been reached. Its details
were confidential.

Mr Withey was charged with manufacturing cannabis oil in March 1994.

The charge was based on undercover policeman Malcolm McKenzie's
identification of Mr Withey as the man he met during a drug deal at a
Dannevirke house in 1993.

The charge was dropped in mid-1995, just before Mr Withey was due to stand
trial.

Mr Withey claimed at the time that Mr McKenzie met another man, and said
the detective changed the description of the man's tattoos to match Mr
Withey's own.