Wrongly accused man demands apology, internal inquiry Police face bungle bill
AN alleged heist of fine-dining tablecloths from a flash Barangaroo, Sydney restaurant has unleashed an extraordinary series of events and exposed an allegedly “improper and unreasonable” police investigation.
Red-faced NSW police are now facing a bill of thousands of dollars in costs over their bungled pursuit of the case, and the man who was at the centre of the case is demanding an apology and an internal investigation.
The trouble started in the busy Christmas season last year when an accusation was made that a linen supply and service company had stolen a bundle of white tablecloths.
The restaurant is not involved or responsible in any way for the allegations.
But the target of the complaint, Mark McKane, who runs local linen supply company Superior Linen Services, said the accusation was wrong.
Mr McKane said the 30odd tablecloths and accompanying napkins he picked up were his own.
He said several companies supplied tablecloths and linen to restaurants in the same building and their linen was the same colour and could be easy to mix up.
Mr McKane said a phone call could have resolved any dispute.
When he provided a delivery docket for the tablecloths and napkins to the restaurant, police didn’t take any notice – telling him the docket could have been made up.
He also gave police contact names to corroborate his version of events, but again police failed to follow up.
And when police contacted him saying he was to be charged with “larceny” over the missing tablecloths pickup, he claims the police reversed the onus of proof – telling the shocked Mr McKane he would have to prove he did not steal the tablecloths.
The police have since been forced into an embarrassing backdown in court, withdrawing the charges.
Magistrate Erin Kennedy ordered the police to pay Mr McKane’s costs.
His lawyer, Danny Eid, told the Local Court the offence of larceny was serious and required “a reasonably thorough and professional objective investigation”.
He said the police conduct in the investigation was very poor.
Mr Eid said police did not follow up lines of inquiry despite being given the names of potential witnesses, they misled and lied to Mr McKane by not revealing to him that they had already decided to charge him while at the same time inviting him to give a version of events that police said could influence whether he was charged or not.
Mr Eid said he was also told the constable in charge of the case was directed “not to supply the brief of evidence” to the defence despite a court order to do so.
Mr Eid told the court the reversal of the onus of proof for
Mr McKane to prove he didn’t steal the tablecloths was “erroneous and impermissible”.
Mr McKane has lodged a complaint with internal affairs and the law enforcement watchdog demanding an apology and an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the case.
A spokeswoman for NSW police said a complaint was received after the finalisation of the court matter.
“As the assessment of the information provided by the complainant is in its infancy, it would be inappropriate to comment at this time,” said the spokeswoman.