McSkimming Allegations 'Really Disturbing'
Jevon McSkimming faces eight charges of possessing objectionable publications, including child sexual exploitation and bestiality material, on his work devices over a four-year period.
He resigned as the country's second most powerful cop in May amid separate investigations by the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) and the police.
McSkimming was arrested in late July and publicly named on Monday after an interim name suppression order prohibiting media from reporting his identity lapsed.
Coster, who worked with him, was asked to comment on the case in an interview on Nine to Noon on Thursday.
"It is really disturbing situation. I can't comment any more on it than that. These matters are before the court and it's completely inappropriate for me to be commenting before that's been resolved."
McSkimming, who is yet to enter a plea, is on bail until his next court appearance in November.
Police Commissioner Richard Chambers has previously said the prosecution showed no one was above the law.
The IPCA has prioritised its separate investigation into allegations of misconduct following a complaint from a member of the public, though there is no timeframe for its completion.
It is also conducting an investigation into if there was misconduct or neglect of duty by any other police officers or employee in responding to the allegations.
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NZ Herald
13 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Prime Minister's former press secretary Michael Forbes told to inform employer himself after filming allegations
The incident at the Wellington brothel happened at 7pm on July 11. Police Comms were notified the following day at 5.40pm. Ten minutes later the National Command and Coordination Centre (NCCC) was alerted and then the District Command Centre. At 6.15pm on July 12 the NCCC emailed a large number of senior leaders in police including former Police Commissioner Andrew Coster, former Deputy Commissioner Jevon McSkimming and others. 'Police Comms have been called by an informant who works for an escort agency. The informant has found images on a client's phone of naked females, including one very intoxicated female that appear to have been taken with the consent of those photographed/filmed. 'The client is allegedly Michael FORBES who is the Senior Press Secretary for the Hon Louise Upston, the Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector, Minister for Social Development and Employment, and Minister for Child Poverty Reduction. 'The alleged offender has left his personal and work cell phones with the informant. The file has been assigned to the Wellington District Crime Squad for attendance.' The police media team had been notified, the email said. The email was recalled about 20 minutes later after current Deputy Commissioner Tania Kura asked for the recall as 'the distribution list is too broad for this type of communication'. The staffer replied they had done so. Kura said the case was 'one of those ones that is a little more sensitive and didn't need such a wide audience'. Investigation summary The documents include an investigation summary. The documents included an investigation summary, which said on July 12, 2024, Wellington Police received a complaint that Forbes had covertly made an audio recording the previous day while engaging the services of a sex worker. 'The informant advised police that they had taken two mobile phones from Forbes, one believed to be a personal phone, the other a work device. The informant also reported finding other audio files, images and videos that caused concern.' The informant was spoken to by police and both phones were taken. 'Once it was established that Forbes was a senior press secretary at Parliament, procedural escalation notifications were made that evening. 'The Wellington District Command Centre was advised, as was the duty inspector.' On July 13, a detective obtained search warrants to examine the two cellphones. 'The suspected offence was making an intimate visual recording, being an offence against section 216H of the Crimes Act 1961.' On July 15, a detective visited Forbes and advised him of the police investigation. During that visit Forbes provided access codes for the phones. On July 18, a detective examined the phones. 'Located within both phones were numerous videos, screen shots and photos of unidentified females, some in various state of undress, and exposed breasts were visible in multiple videos. 'It was apparent to detectives that some images were taken in, and from, public places, including a gym. Some images were also taken through street-facing windows of unidentified women, dressing (undressing) themselves, and who were visible from the waist up.' The summary says the examination of the phones did not identify evidence of criminal offending. On July 18 Forbes met with a detective and the phones were returned to him. 'He was also provided copies of the search warrants that had been obtained. 'During the meeting it was suggested that Forbes should delete some of the images on his phones, and he began doing so. Police also stressed the onus was on him to inform his employer.' On July 19 Police provided an update to the complainant. On August 6, Police also provided an update to another staff member at the brothel. 'They expressed frustration and disappointment with the outcome,' the summary said. In an earlier statement, Wellington District Manager Criminal Investigations, Detective Inspector John van den Heuvel, said that as part of the investigation, police obtained a search warrant to seize two of his phones. On examining the phones, Police found a number of photos and videos of women in public spaces, and what appeared to be women in private addresses, taken from a distance away, van den Heuvel said. 'Police considered the available evidence and concluded it did not meet the requirements for criminality, and therefore charges could not be filed. 'The individual concerned voluntarily spoke with police and admitted to taking the images and recordings. He was reminded of the inappropriateness of his behaviour and encouraged to seek help.' Forbes also deleted the images in the presence of police. 'Police acknowledge this man's behaviour was extremely distressing for the women involved and would like to reassure them that any new information will be thoroughly considered. 'Based on the initial report and available evidence to date, police are unable to progress the matter further.' Van den Heuvel said any new information regarding Forbes would be 'thoroughly considered'. Forbes had 'obligation' to tell employers: Prime Minister When earlier asked why police did not alert the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) after executing a search warrant on a government-issued phone, the department said: 'We are still gathering facts and will look into all of this as part of our deep dive.' The DIA said all Ministerial Services staff were subject to standard pre-employment checks when they were first employed. These included reference checks, serious misconduct checks and a criminal conviction check. In addition, security clearances were required for some positions in ministers' offices. The department says these checks were completed when Forbes was first employed by Ministerial Services and were not required for the later temporary assignment to the Prime Minister's office. 'We acknowledge staff may be unsettled or feel their safety may have been compromised. We are committed to supporting our people and ensuring they feel, and are, safe at work.' Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the incidents that were investigated by police but did not lead to any charges occurred after Forbes was vetted to work for Social Development Minister Louise Upston. 'He has an obligation to actually declare those issues or those incidents to us, that didn't happen, which is why his employment would have been terminated, obviously,' Luxon said in a media conference at Parliament in June. 'But there is a good question about making sure, and I have asked specifically for DIA to look at vetting processes.' He added that the expectation was on Forbes to have raised the incidents with the Prime Minister's office 'because it impacts the office and the reputation of the office, for obvious reasons, but that did not happen'. Forbes moved from Upston's office to the Prime Minister's in February this year and 'had the vetting that he needed to come into the Beehive'. 'We will look at that to make sure that there is anything else we could have done differently in that vetting.' Luxon would not discuss what level of security clearance Forbes had in the Beehive. Luxon also had questions about whether the investigation should have been elevated by police to the Beehive. 'We have to take this incident and understand what has happened here and how it happened, and what more can we do about it. 'I think it is a legitimate question to say what can we look at between the inter-agency processes, between the different agencies, whether it is police, whether it is the SIS or whether it is ministerial services.' 'I was in a downward spiral' Forbes earlier offered an apology for the harm his actions caused to women. 'I want to offer my sincerest apologies to the women I have harmed,' he said in a statement. 'In the past, I was in a downward spiral due to unresolved trauma and stress, and when confronted with the impacts of my behaviour a year ago, I sought professional help, which is something I wish I had done much earlier. 'What I failed to do then was make a genuine attempt to apologise. Instead, I tried to move on without offering those I had harmed the acknowledgment, accountability, or amends they deserved. I recognise how wrong that was.' Forbes said he spent the past year 'reflecting on how I may have affected these women's sense of safety and ability to go about their lives and work'. 'No one should ever feel violated, unsafe, or disrespected, especially in spaces where they should feel secure, and I am truly sorry for contributing to an environment where women may have felt otherwise,' he said. 'The therapy I've received over the past year has helped me to understand the roots of my behaviour and begin addressing the patterns that led to it. This is a long-term commitment to change that I take very seriously. 'I understand that my past actions may have undermined the trust people place in me. So, I have resigned from my job to focus on the work I need to do.' Forbes declined to comment when approached by RNZ on Wednesday. – RNZ
Scoop
16 hours ago
- Scoop
McSkimming Allegations 'Really Disturbing'
Former Police Commissioner Andrew Coster says the criminal case against his former deputy is "really disturbing". Jevon McSkimming faces eight charges of possessing objectionable publications, including child sexual exploitation and bestiality material, on his work devices over a four-year period. He resigned as the country's second most powerful cop in May amid separate investigations by the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) and the police. McSkimming was arrested in late July and publicly named on Monday after an interim name suppression order prohibiting media from reporting his identity lapsed. Coster, who worked with him, was asked to comment on the case in an interview on Nine to Noon on Thursday. "It is really disturbing situation. I can't comment any more on it than that. These matters are before the court and it's completely inappropriate for me to be commenting before that's been resolved." McSkimming, who is yet to enter a plea, is on bail until his next court appearance in November. Police Commissioner Richard Chambers has previously said the prosecution showed no one was above the law. The IPCA has prioritised its separate investigation into allegations of misconduct following a complaint from a member of the public, though there is no timeframe for its completion. It is also conducting an investigation into if there was misconduct or neglect of duty by any other police officers or employee in responding to the allegations.
Otago Daily Times
6 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Shooting death by police 'preventable': Coroner
By Guyon Espiner of RNZ Police tactics in the fatal shooting of Shargin Stephens showed a disregard for the right to life, according to a scathing coroner's report. A probationary officer in "a heightened emotional state" pushed his way past experienced officers and got "unnecessarily and dangerously close" to Stephens, who was holding a slasher after smashing up a police car, and shot him twice with an M4 rifle. Coroner Michael Robb ruled the death, in July 2016, was preventable and his 207-page report painted a picture of police chaos on the day, including a lack of leadership and a failure to de-escalate the situation. He said frontline officers were inclined to treat safety of their own and the public as the exclusive considerations, and that "concern for the individual they are dealing with and their right to life is at best muted in the New Zealand police risk assessment process". The coroner said that, a decade on, it appeared police have learned little from the shooting, and the officers involved were defensive when questioned and still don't believe they did anything wrong. Police, though, say many of the changes recommended by Robb have already been implemented. Robb, the third coroner to deal with the case, referred his findings back to the police and the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA), saying it was up to those agencies, if they wished to take further action. Stephens - a 35-year-old Māori man with a string of convictions, but no history of violence - had been on electronic bail in Rotorua for about six weeks, with no identified breach of his conditions. Despite knowing where he was, police bail-checked him 70 times in the 38 days before the shooting, waking him up with late-night door knocks. "Mr Stephens was polite and compliant, but significantly frustrated by the police actions," the coroner said, and "felt that the police were deliberately playing games with him". One morning, he snapped and smashed up a police car with a garden slasher, but never presented a physical threat to officers or the public, the coroner said. The case had a long and turbulent history. The IPCA initially said the police shooting was justified, and the late-night bail checks were "reasonable" and played no role in his death. But in 2021, RNZ obtained documents detailing the police investigation into the homicide, and found multiple inconsistencies between what officers told the IPCA and what they had told their own investigating officers. In an unprecedented move, the IPCA re-opened its investigation after RNZ's reporting and its second report, in 2022, said the bail checks were "oppressive" and may have been a factor in the killing. Now the coroner has ruled that Stephens did not need to die that day. "I have concluded that Mr Stephens' death was preventable," his finding said. "The officers in attendance did not have a mindset or adequate training to enable them to slow and de-escalate the incident in a way that could have prevented the police taking Mr Stephens' life." Police officer's 'consistently inaccurate' statements The coroner found that the officer who shot him - who had several years in the army, but just one year with police - was an unreliable witness, who claimed to have seen multiple things that did not happen. The officer, who has permanent name suppression and is referred to by his codename L05, was sharply censured in the coroner's report. "L05's original pre-prepared statement, his police interview statement, the statement he filed in the Coroners Court in advance of the inquest, and the evidence he gave before me at inquest was not consistent with the events." The coroner dismantled the officer's entire rationale for arming up with a Bushmaster M4 rifle and shooting Stephens, saying his evidence was "consistently inaccurate" and that he "alleged matters that did not happen". Relying on witness accounts, CCTV and taser footage, the coroner found there were "multiple matters alleged by L05 that simply did not occur". These included wrongly claiming that he had witnessed two police attempts to taser Stephens before he was shot and falsely claiming that Stephens was advancing on another officer to hack him with the slasher. "His account incorporated a detailed narrative of actions carried out by Mr Stephens that he claimed he watched from close proximity, which he said was the reason he went to the boot of his vehicle, and loaded and armed himself with an M4 rifle," the coroner said. "I have found that he did not see Mr Stephens act in the way he described." He said it was possible L05's "concern over his own situation" led him to search for a narrative that could support a claim of self-defence under section 48 of the Crimes Act. The coroner said that, during the inquest, L05 maintained he had calmly played a support role in the confrontation, but that wasn't true. "Through his arming himself with the M4 rifle and his physical actions, he seemed to have taken it upon himself, despite being the most junior officer, to take control of the police engagement with Mr Stephens." L05 advanced on Stephens - moving from about 15-20 metres away to just 6-7 metres in the final seconds of the confrontation - a distance the coroner described as "unnecessarily and inappropriately" close. The coroner said L05's risk assessment was flawed, because he claimed Stephens was moving with purpose towards a Rotorua shopping centre, when in fact he was disorientated and wandering aimlessly. Critically, in the 12 seconds L05 advanced on Stephens, there was no person in imminent danger. "Stephens was not advancing towards anyone, he was not heading towards the shopping centre, he had stopped and was facing towards L05 throughout the time L05 continued to advance on him with the rifle." He said L05's actions reflected his limited experience and "a level of panic", but also revealed the police attitude to the use of lethal force. The inquiry found police were wrong to claim Stephens was high on meth and a danger to the public. "When interviewed, officers characterised Mr Stephens' behaviour as being high on methamphetamine and violent, with descriptors of him including that he was a goal-driven individual," the coroner said. "My review of the evidence has led me to conclude that he was not 'goal driven', he was not high on methamphetamine and, through to the moment he was shot, he was not physically violent towards any person, nor was this his intention or goal on the day he was shot." Family's message to officer who fired In a statement, the Stephens whānau thanked the coroner, their legal team and supporters, including the Wallace family, who lost their son Steven to a police shooting in 2000. The whānau made a "call for accountability and human dignity in police conduct", and also reached out to the shooter, L05. "We send you and your whānau compassion and peace," the whānau said. "We are now enmeshed as two peoples, forever connected by the loss of two lives - one lost in innocence, the other in death. "We hope your path to healing becomes gentler, and that this tragedy may serve as a threshold toward a future filled with possibility and healthy growth." Police defensive, unwilling to learn Although the shooting was nearly a decade ago, the coroner's report was damning for the police today, because it said they had not learned from it. The coroner highlighted flaws in the police approach, including a failure to cordon and contain Stephens, and a lack of leadership and control, which allowed the most junior officer to take the lead role. "He took it upon himself to immediately try to engage directly with Mr Stephens, pushing his way in front of other officers," the coroner said. "He was in an overly elevated emotional state to the point where he was perceiving the events in a significantly inaccurate way. He received no directive, guidance or leadership from any senior officer either at that time." The coroner found "a defensiveness by officers giving evidence, an unwillingness to accept any criticism of their actions" and "limited willingness to reflect on anything that could have been done differently now". He is particularly critical of the shooter L05, who - when giving evidence eight years after the shooting - gave "no indication that he had reflected on anything that he might have done differently". Coroner Robb said police still had the attitude that, if they could claim an offender presented a threat, then that justified shooting them. "It further highlights my concern that the current New Zealand police risk assessment encourages a justification approach, whereby being able to articulate a possible anticipated risk can be relied on to then justify a lethal force action." When conducting their own homicide investigation into the shooting, police waited a month before interviewing L05. There was none of the scrutiny that would normally occur in a homicide investigation, where evidence such as CCTV and taser footage would be analysed, and inconsistencies in witness accounts challenged. "There was no challenge of L05's account at any juncture," he said. "There was no indication of any 'heavy debrief' of his or any other officer's risk assessments within the police review processes." In a statement, Bay of Plenty district commander Superintendent Tim Anderson said inquiries had found the officer involved was legally justified in shooting Stephens in self-defence to protect both himself and members of the public. "We acknowledge these events have a profound effect, not only on families, but also on our staff," Anderson said. "There has been significant scrutiny of this event over a period of nearly 10 years and we will always take any opportunity to improve how we respond, to keep people safe. Shooting people is an absolute last resort decision that our staff constantly hope they never have to make. "I want to commend the professionalism of our staff who responded to this incident. "Police officers are committed to protecting life and upholding the law. They are trained and prepared to respond to critical incidents, and our priority is to resolve an incident peacefully and without the need to use force by exhausting all reasonable, tactical alternatives. "When an officer uses force to protect themselves or others, it is a tactical decision made after risk-assessing the threat, the exposure to harm being faced, the necessity to act and the best response considering all those factors." What happens next Although Coroner Robb referred his report back to the IPCA and the police, he stopped short of saying that L05 should face prosecution. He said that, at the moment Stephens was shot, he had moved diagonally closer to L05, with the slasher raised in his right hand. "In that moment, L05 may have reasonably felt in danger," the coroner said, adding that would likely fall within a claim of self-defence under the Crimes Act. "For that reason, I do not consider it appropriate to refer that aspect of L05's actions back to the police for further investigation." Among the coroner's recommendations were that police wear body cameras. He also said probationary officers should be trained to "avoid asserting charge or control" over more senior officers, and should not access M4 rifles, except as a matter of last resort. He also recommended more training on de-escalation and what constitutes an imminent threat "to emphasise that preservation of life is a police responsibility", along with protection of their colleagues and the public. Anderson said police would consider the recommendations, but many of the them had already been implemented, after the two IPCA reports and internal reviews of the incident over the last nine years. Bail management practices were overhauled and all of the recommendations made by the IPCA in 2022 were implemented. "We also note the coroner's recommendation that police wear body-worn cameras (BWC), which our commissioner has signalled, as one of the few law-enforcement agencies without BWC, is a priority to deliver for frontline staff. "Work is under way to explore options to do this, while also considering the legal, privacy and operational issues this will raise."
