Thousands turn out to help Rotorua make haka history
Survivor NZ contestant Nathan ‘Nate’ Davis faced stinging criticism by a judge for his investigation into a charge of indecent assault against a respected businessman who was acquitted and awarded damages.
Bruce Turfrey was arrested by Davis and charged with indecently assaulting a woman at the Waipukurau Club, in Central Hawke’s Bay, four years after the alleged incident took place.
A jury took 20 minutes to find Turfrey not guilty, and he was later awarded thousands of dollars in damages in a ruling that criticised the police investigation.
This week, Turfrey said he felt badly let down over the way Davis handled the case.
‘‘When you’re a normal lawabiding citizen it’s quite horrific to go through something like that.’’
Last week the Sunday Star-Times revealed Davis was under an internal police probe over charges of illegal hunting he brought against a former police colleague who was bullied out of the force.
Turfrey said this week he had no idea he had been under investigation in 2008 until a call out of the blue from Davis, who was then a detective in Waipukurau.
Turfrey’s legal team provided witnesses who contradicted the complainant and sole prosecution witness.
In awarding costs to Turfrey, Judge Geoff Rea said no other inquiries were made to see whether the complaint could be corroborated.
Judge Rea said there was no sign of bad faith or negligence on Davis’s part.
Turfrey said the case had been tough on his family, but he’d got through largely thanks to their unwavering support.
‘‘I considered taking a complaint, but we were expanding the business at the time and my son said ‘let’s put it behind us’.’’
He later ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Central Hawke’s Bay District Council, and says the fallout from the charge may have been a factor.
Superintendent Sue Schwalger, Central District commander, said Davis had not received any internal disciplinary sanction for this case, or any other matters.
She said that in the hunting case, he had reported the former policeman, and his information was referred to Palmerston North police. The investigation progressed independently of Davis.
He remains in the running to win the first season of Survivor NZ. The crowd count in Rotorua reached 7770 for the attempt to wrestle back the haka world record from France.
That’s enough to break both the current Guinness World Record of 4028 and the unofficial Masterton tally of 6200.
Event organisers took a number of steps to ensure the record attempt complied with the strict Guinness rules.
Grid lines were painted on the grass for haka participants to stand in and just ahead of the attempt, an official counted the people in each grid.
There were some high-tech checks, too.
Each participant was handed a ticket before entry to be scanned into a database of numbers and drone footage ensured all were taking part.
‘‘If you’re scratching your nose or eating a pie, you won’t be counted,’’ Event MC Paul Hickey said.
The unofficial count was 7770, smashing the French record by 3742 and 1570 higher than the Masterton bid. It could be months before the
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attempt is ratified by Guinness.
Speaking ahead of the attempt, Rotorua Boys’ High deputy principal Fred Whata said the attempt is personal.
‘‘The French beat us in the World Cup twice. They blew up our Rainbow Warrior. It’s time to take back our haka, it’s time for utu, it’s time for revenge.’’
The official record of 4028 participants was achieved at an event organised by car manufacturer Mazda in Brive-la-Gaillarde, France, in 2014.
The Masterton haka of 6200, while not officially ratified yet, was staged in November 2016.