Dear Editor, I would like to add a few words to the story that ran in this paper on 11 March 2025 regarding the court case of Chris Denny.

What struck me was that Chris’ defence counsel, who it is fair to say, is relatively new to trial work in the Cook Islands High Court was able to do what the concerted efforts of the nation’s Police Department and the Crown Law Office could not do. That being she was able to identify and demonstrate the police search warrant, which was the foundation for the Crown’s case, was defective and the information it contained was unlawfully obtained. Resulting in all charges against Denny being duly dismissed.

As pointed out in the article, the case was two years old before it was heard and being one of high public interest it would be reasonable to assume the prosecution team would have had time to dot all the ‘i’s’ and crossed all the ‘t’s’ in the presentation of their brief.

Had these basics been done, the errors in the search warrant would have been quickly identified, the charges levelled would have been withdrawn, and Mr Denny would not have had to suffer the indignation and losses he endured.

Apart from fair justice for all, I believe urgent steps should be taken to review and adequately train our police members in the preparation of search warrants and for prosecutors to ensure the cases they present meet the requirements of the law.

While I am at it, when will the police department be fully staffed and adequately paid. Things are getting worse by the day.

Rod Henderson