POLICE, MAF SQUARE OFF OVER CANNABIS DISPUTE

A serious rift between police and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
led to a top wildlife investigator being sacked and dragging his bosses
through court.

Craig Hughes, a former policeman who led several high-profile wildlife
smuggling operations, won an Employment Relations Authority case he brought
after being sacked in February.

The authority ordered that his job be reinstated and that he be paid $10,000
for humiliation and loss of dignity.

Its decision, released this week, shows how the two Government departments,
which are supposed to work closely together, had a serious falling out. At
one point, Superintendent Rob Pope withdrew police co-operation with the
ministry's Special Investigation Group (SPIG).

Evidence to the authority also suggested that the group, a key part of the
effort against those who have threatened the country's borders, had become
dysfunctional.

Hughes' problems began after he led a team of MAF officers executing a
search warrant at a home where they believed they would find snakes. Police
officers went to the house too.

The authority decision said no snakes were found but one of the MAF officers
told Hughes that some cannabis was discovered in the glove box of a car at
the home. Hughes made an operational decision not to tell the police at the
time because, evidence shows, he had decided the cannabis could be used as
"leverage" over the woman whose house was being searched.

When the police were told about the cannabis two-and-a-half months later,
Pope withdrew his staff from the operation with SPIG. Hughes' manager,
Jockey Jensen, arranged a meeting with Pope and ordered a MAF lawyer to find
out what had happened.

Jensen sent the lawyer's report to police along with an email in which he
expressed disappointment with his staff. "I am still having difficulty in
coming to terms with the manner in which [my staff] progressed the
situation," the email said. "I find it almost incomprehensible that we
undertook the action we did without any consultation and authority from the
police officer present or otherwise."

Hughes told the tribunal he had told Jensen about the cannabis on the day
and the next day.

He was dismissed on the grounds of serious misconduct because he had acted
outside his jurisdiction by deciding not to tell the police. It was also
stated he had breached the integrity, trust and confidence inherent in the
relationship between MAF and the police.

The authority found that according to his contract, it was his prerogative
to make the decision. It also found that other team members had been treated
more leniently, despite their involvement in the situation.

The steps MAF followed to dismiss Hughes were also flawed, partly because
the allegations were not put to him properly and because the ministry had
already made its mind up about what had happened.

"The process was so unfair to Hughes the dismissal ought not in equity and
good conscience stand," the authority said.

It ruled that Hughes should be reinstated, although through his counsel he
has told MAF that he could not return to a department "decimated by Jockey
Jensen".

This week, Hughes said he was unable to comment.

A MAF spokeswoman said the ministry was considering its options and would
not comment.