Police accused of illegally detaining teenager over suspected underage sex found not guilty

The defence lawyers for Hurimoana Dennis and Vaughan Perry opened and closed their cases today.

Two Auckland police officers accused of unlawfully detaining a 17-year-old boy in a "mock arrest" incident in 2015 have been found not guilty of all charges.

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Inspector Hurimoana Dennis and Vaughan Perry were jointly charged over the incident, in which they pretended to arrest a teenager who was suspected of sleeping with his then-15-year-old girlfriend.

The teenager's family, who were known by Dennis, sent him to live in Australia the day after that arrest.

A month later, as the boy tried to re-enter the country at Auckland International Airport, Dennis further detained the boy at the airport police station.

The teenager was then sent back to Australia despite there being no legal basis for that to happen.

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