I Am Innocent 2015 - Otago Daily Times online -
My name is Shane Cribb. On 31st March 2006 I was charged with careless driving causing injury, and ordered to pay $18,000 reparation. I Am Innocent s1e3: Shane Cribb, Netflix 2015
When I bought all that information back and started to put it down on paper and started to actually draw the turning circle and the capabilities of the police vehicle, looking on the internet to get the braking distances and reaction times … there’s no way Shane could have been guilty of careless driving. ibid. lawyer
The police version of events was not physically possible. ibid. QC
No apology from the police. ibid. lawyer
The fact police eventually got it right in the case of Shane Cribb should go some way to restoring public confidence, New Zealand Police Association president Greg O’Connor says.
He accepted some ‘indefensible behaviour’ had taken place among police in relation to the case, but said although ‘it took a long time to resolve and get to the facts of the matter ... at least the system works’ and the right outcome was reached.
‘What the public need to know is there's always going to be indefensible behaviour. What’s important is that when it comes to light it’s dealt with appropriately,’ he said.
When asked if more than eight years was an appropriate length of time to wait for a conclusion, he said: ‘Everyone ... involved would have liked a much quicker resolution.’ However, ‘all the facts eventually all came to light.’
When pressed on his thoughts about senior officers involved in the case avoiding disciplinary action, he said: ‘Police are not above the law, but they aren’t below it and there’s got be to rules which apply to procedure.’
The report highlighted the poor handling of the investigation of the crash and called into question then Senior Sergeant Michael Cook’s supervision of the case as acting Otago rural area commander. Otago Daily Times online article 15th March 2014, ‘Police behaviour described as indefensible’