Former Southlander now recovering

A former Southland police officer, who is recovering after being injured in the Kawerau seige in March, can now be named.

Police dog handler Constable Regan Mauheni was shot in the head during the early stages of the incident in the Bay of Plenty on March 9.

Mauheni was allegedly shot by Rhys Warren during a cannabis recovery operation and received a brain injury.

He is recovering at home and has not returned to work.

Warren is charged with two counts of attempted murder and five counts of using a firearm against a law enforcement officer.

Mauheni, and four other officers who were injured during the siege, had their name suppression lifted on Friday by Justice Tim Brewer after being challenged by media organisations.

The four other officers have returned to work, with two of them on light duties.

After graduating from police college, Mauheni, a former Southland Boys’ High School student, joined the ranks of officers in his home city of Invercargill. He moved to Rotorua in 2011 after seeing a dog handling job advertised, a part of the police force he said had always wanted to join.

In 2013, Mauheni and his police dog, Thor, were awarded the Erridge Cup, recognition they were New Zealand’s bestperforming rookie dog and handler in the past year.

The accolades continued and in 2015, Mauheni was awarded a District Commanders commendation in the Rotorua Police Pay Parade Awards for what Rotorua Area Commander Inspector Bruce Horne described as ‘‘courage in the highest traditions of the New Zealand Police.’’ Mauheni and Thor were attempting to apprehend a meth dealer when the dog and the dealer ended up in a swollen river, forcing Mauheni to rescue both of them from the water.