Tourist appeals over 'fugitive' mistake
A British tourist who claimed she was traumatised when New Zealand police mistook her husband for a fugitive criminal, has appealed against the dismissal of her £350,000 (€524,900) damages claim.
Margaret Fyfe and her late husband Robert were forced at gunpoint to lie face-down on a wet motorway during a full-scale police armed alert in 1993.
It turned out to be a case of mistaken identity when a former policeman mistook Robert Fyfe for a dangerous armed robber.
Armed police swooped on the pair as they drove to Wellington airport for their flight back to Scotland. Detained for hours by police, the couple eventually were released and made their flight home.
Margaret Fyfe said she suffered post traumatic stress disorder, she never worked again and the incident ruined her life.
Robert Fyfe died only weeks before their damages claim against police came to trial in 2002.
Justice Eddie Durie dismissed their case, saying police had not broken the law.
Lawyers for Fyfe told the Court of Appeal today that Judge Durie had been wrong on a number of grounds, including his finding that police had reasonable grounds to suspect Robert Fyfe was armed robber Leslie Green.
Police lawyer John Pike said police accepted Mrs Fyfe suffered a “most regrettable misfortune” that ruined her holiday but disputed how much ruin it caused to the rest of her life.
He said police had made an honest mistake.
The Court of Appeal judges reserved their decision to a later date.
Mrs Fyfe, who was granted legal aid to fund her case, still lives in Scotland and has not attended the court hearings.
