Kyota. I'm Richard Martin in for Chelsea Daniels and this is the Front Page, a daily podcast presented by the New Zealand Herald. A twenty four year old woman has shared her identity in order to talk publicly about an inappropriate relationship she was involved in with a police officer. Alex MacPhail earlier spoke to The Herald anonymously about her relationship with christ Church based detective Luke Fazakerlie, whom she met when she was twenty two and reporting a rape
to the police. She complained about his behavior to the Independent Police Conduct Authority, a complaint that has now been reopened after the Herald. Reporting today on the Front Page, NZ Herald reporter Katie Harris, who has covered Alex's case, as with us to discuss why this particular case is making waves on both sides of the Tasman and we'll also hear from Alex in her own words about what she experienced. Katie, can you tell us a bit about Alex McPhail and how you two came to be in contact.
So Alex is a twenty four year old flight attendant from christ Church. Now we actually first spoke. I think it was a year or maybe two years ago, and it was unrelated to the story that we're speaking about now, but it was because Alex had a suspicion that a person I had previously written about had also sexually assaulted her. Now, I had interviewed a different girl about a serious sexual soul allegation, and she believed she had been assaulted by
the same person. And so we did have a quick call and we were able to work out that it was the same person. But I didn't do anything at that stage because she was interested in going down the police route and I didn't want to impact that investigation process. And police did eventually charge that person with sexual assault in relation to alex case.
And then, so how did she bring up the case that we are talking about.
We hadn't spoken in quite a while, but I got an email from her out of the blow, just wanting to chat about something that had happened since we last spoke. And from there that's when this inappropriate relationship that she says really impacted her occurred.
And can you describe the relationship we're talking about.
Yeah, So, when Alex went to the police, an officer brought her into a room and she was introduced to a detective called Luke phy Ezacally and she was told that Luke would be managing her case. And things between her and Luke started off very professionally. He would text her updates about the case, but as time went by,
she says, things became inappropriate. For example, there was one text on New Year's Eve where she says she kind of felt like that was something had changed, you know, Normally a police officer wouldn't text happy New Year's Eve, you know. And from their things developed, and she says they sort of had a comp about how they had feelings for each other, and she alleges that he encouraged her to send him sort of weird text so that
he would get taken off the case. And then, she alleges the same day he was taken off her case, they had sex.
The text messages and the phone calls they started professional, and then over time got more and more personal, more and more inappropriate. Luke really painted himself as this hero. He kind of said all the right things, and because I hadn't told my friends and family what I was going through, he was really my only support and he encouraged me to lean on him and so through that
a intimate relationship developed. Now I can see that he took advantage of me when I was in an extremely vulnerable position, and that doesn't make it a relationship where two adults decide to come.
Together, even before the messaging became flirtatious, or however you want to describe it. Is that sort of texting back and forth between an officer and a rape complainant normal.
I think for a lot of people they might be surprised that a lot of these conversations do happen over text, because this is just how we interact now, and so it might be the police officer sending you your file number saying this is the process, just an update we've interviewed this person, or for example, we're busy with other jobs right now, but as soon as we have time, we'll get to the next stage of this investigation. So it is quite common to be liaising in that way.
What's not common, though, what shouldn't be common, is things progressing into an appropriate relationship.
So it might be worth clarifying what exactly it says in the Code of Conduct about relationships like this. Because he's not actually accused of anything criminal, is that right?
No, he's not accused of anything criminal whatsoever. But the code of conduct is very clear and it states that staff must not enter into a sexual or intimate relationship with anyone they meet and a professional capacity if an imbalance of power exists or if that person is vulnerable. And I think in this case, it's quite clear that she tacks those boxes and there is an inherent and balance of power just in that dynamic. Not to mention that she was in a vulnerable position.
Yeah, well, because I thought it was interesting that, like the way their relationship started, she was describing him as like a hero at one point.
Which is quite natural for a lot of people when you have gone through something traumatic and someone comes along, like a police officer or a police detective, it is quite common to get quite close with people when you've gone through something traumatic and they are there to help you. In my view, it's on the detective or the person in power to ensure that that relationship stays professional.
And so he was removed from the case. And then what happened.
So he was removed from the case, and at some point during the investigation, she says she told his superiors that there was an intimate relationship going on between them, but at the time she was like, please, this is
all my fault. I don't want him to get in trouble. Now, sheerly Jesus is quite a big issue and they should have intervened then, and he should have been fired or lost his job then, in her view, because she believes no police officer should have a sexual relationship with someone whose case they have managed, a case like this, for example, a rape case that didn't happen, and while he wasn't her detective anymore, they were continuing this romantic relationship while
her sexual assault complaint was still being investigated, and it was ongoing from there. The relationship eventually broke down and she sought mental health support, and it was during that process where a doctorate and some other medical professionals advised her that this relationship, in their view, was not okay and that she should.
What was the reaction from the superiors? Do we know?
We know that he wasn't removed from his job. We know that he is still employed by New Zealand Police. It's not clear if anything else has happened from their Police haven't provided more context on what occurred after that report.
So in your discussions with Alex. What sort of motivated her to go public with us?
She sort of has term motivations. On the one hand, she wants to make sure this doesn't happen again, and she felt really concerned that by staying quiet it could happen again. On the other hand, she wanted to come forward and speak up and be named now because when she was a child, she says, she was sexually abused and she did speak up then, but she was told
that she would have to endure it. She wanted to speak up now for that little girl and to show other women that they can speak up up and that women should be believed.
The push to go public with this story came from the realization that it wasn't just a personal problem between Luke and I. It was actually a huge problem with the New Zealand Police and how they hold their officers accountable, the expectations that they have for the officers when working with vulnerable people.
You've obviously reported on a lot of cases like this. How rare is it for someone to actually go public and name themselves.
It is real, it's so vulnerable, and so it's so brave to come out and publicly name yourself in association with something that historically was really stigmatized and really shamed. However, I have noticed throughout my career that there has been an increase in victims and survivors of sexual assault wanting to be publicly named. I would say it would happen once a year five years ago, whereas now I'm probably doing this like two or three times at least a year.
So what actually happened initially with the employment process after her complaint was made, because I know there was a job in Queensland.
She said he'd already applied to work in Queensland and so he had this job offer on the table. He was due to start later in the year. And so when I did go to Queensland Police for comment, they responded and said that the job offer had been rescinded while an investigation was occurring. Now they haven't been able to update me on whether that investigation is done, or whether he still has a job offer or if it's
still rescinded. But it is interesting how swiftly they acted and in her view, in contrast with how New Zealand Police have not undertaken. From her view, you know, swift action in this case.
Has Luke responded adult to your reporting or the case in anyway. No.
The only reaction I've had from Luke is when I approached him for comment and he said that his superiors had advised him that a media response had already been prepared and he had nothing further to add.
And so do we know what the sort of next steps in this case would be?
Yeah, So the IPCA has reopened the complaint against him following our reporting, and I've given Alex a time frame of about two to four weeks, which is what it usually takes them to assess. So from there, hopefully the result will be shared with Alex, since you'll learn what, if any, action will be taken.
What's been sort of the response from the general public to your reporting.
The response that I have seen on social media has been real shock, because I think most people assumed that if a cop had breached the Code of conduct, which Alex obviously feels that he has, and according to the Code of Conduct this does seem like quite a clear breach, people believe that they should no longer be working, and so almost all of the public reaction I've seen has
just been real shock. At New Zealand police, but also support of Alex, and that was part of the reason why she also felt safe enough to come forward, was because she had seen the response to that first story and felt, I guess less nervous about fully being named and photographed in relation to this case.
I think what I needed when I was twelve and experiencing that I needed someone to speak up for me. I needed someone to care to go back and tell her that I'm that person for her, that she becomes that person for herself. I wish I could tell her that.
And what has Alex said about like the response to the story.
Yeah, well, the second one's only just come out, and she's just, you know, obviously taking it all in and just quite shocked. I think she's also quite proud of herself, and she did a really good job articulating her thoughts and feelings, especially over a video. But after that first story came out, she sent me a message, and this is quite a common message that I get because I do this type of reporting a lot, and she said, I feel like I have found my voice again, or
have my voice back. That sort of makes doing this tough job worth it sometimes.
Thanks for joining us, Katie.
Thank you.
That's it for this episode of the Front Page. You can read more about today's stories and extensive news coverage at zidherld dot co dot nz. The Front Page is produced by Ethan Sills. I'm Richard Martin. Subscribe to the Front Page on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts, and tune in tomorrow for another look behind the headlines.