‘Grave injustice’: Survivor of killer cop speaks out
Officer jailed for 17 years ‘evil bastard’ says victim’s lover
Aformer police officer who killed his wife and shot her new lover has been labelled an “evil bastard” with no remorse.
Benjamin Peter McLean, 48, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years by Justice Rachel Dunningham when he appeared before the High Court at Invercargill yesterday.
McLean killed his wife, 40-year-old Verity “Bert” McLean, with a single gunshot to the head in Invercargill in April last year and then shot the man she had moved in with, Gary William Duggan.
Duggan, 48, survived and his emotive victim impact statement was read in court by his support person Michael Laws.
“He planned to kill Bert, he planned to kill me,” he said.
“If I’d been a physically weaker man, there would be no one here to tell you what an evil bastard [he is].”
Duggan said he suffered posttraumatic stress following the incident and was left with the ordeal indelibly etched into his mind.
“My strongest feeling . . . is of guilt. I loved this woman and she loved me, she felt safe with me and I couldn’t protect her from the evil of Ben McLean,” he said.
“It’s a legacy I have to live with forever.”
Duggan saw no contrition in the man he had known for 15 years.
“I do resent having my life stolen by this man and do not believe he has any remorse . . . he regards his actions as being caused by others rather than accepting any responsibility himself.”
McLean tearfully responded, reading a statement from the dock, much of which was unclear.
“I will forever regret the pain and suffering I have caused my children,” he said. “I’d like to . . . formally apologise to the Southland district and New Zealand police.”
The defendant ended his speech by saying: “Bert was the love of my life who broke my heart and my soul.”
The judge said the defendant would continue to be held in solitary confinement for up to 18 months.
Outside court Duggan saluted the woman he had fallen in love with.
The three weeks they spent together at the Otepuni Ave home they had nicknamed “the shed” were the best of his life, he said.
“Bert was a loving, kind and compassionate woman; an outstanding mum. She tried to make her relationship with Ben McLean work . . . on behalf of her children,” Duggan said in a statement read by Laws.
“Ben McLean decided that his hate, his anger and his perverted sense of wrong was more important than everyone else.”
He said he was plagued by the thought of the defendant being paroled.
“One day Ben McLean will be released from prison and on that day another grave injustice will have been created,” he said.
Verity McLean’s father Bob Barber took issue with the words McLean used during his tearful statement.
“He said he had lost the love of his life in court. He didn’t lose her; he executed her. His only regret was getting caught and not finishing off what he set out to do,” he said.
Detective Inspector Steve Wood said as a result of McLean’s actions police had reviewed processes around access to items such as radios and handcuffs.