Fight for freedom An accusation of unlawful sexual connection tore his family apart and sent him to prison. Acquitted and then found not guilty Mitchell Laing talks to Paula Hulburt about the three-year battle to clear his name.
I
t was the worst moment of his life. Tears welled as he fought for control, watching until the car carrying his son and daughter disappeared. Standing on the pavement outside their school, heart sore and bewildered, the father of three was reluctant to return home without the children he had cared for since babyhood. His mouth was dry and his skin clammy; he began to shiver as shock set in. His mind clamoured as he wrestled with the unthinkable: his children had been taken off him. Images of them flickered in his mind’s eye, his tiny blonde-haired baby daughter in his arms, his son beaming as he unwrapped birthday gifts. Allegations of unlawful sexual contact with a child aged 12 or under had been made against him and when he arrived to pick up his children from school, the police and Oranga Tamariki staff were waiting. His children, he was told, would be removed from his care immediately.
“It was horrific.” He takes a deep breath in. Talking about the incident almost three years ago is still painful. Arrested, charged, convicted, imprisoned, acquitted, retried, and then found not guilty, the journey to clear his name has been long and painful. Just days after being found not guilty at a second trial by a jury at Nelson Court, the dark-haired dad is still reeling in the wake of the events which cost him his family and his freedom. The former furniture store manager expressed his innocence from the start. What followed he says, is a nightmare he wouldn’t wish on his worst enemy. He gives a wry laugh as he explains how sure he was that the accusations would amount to nothing. “I was a bit too confident. I knew I hadn’t done anything and put my faith in the justice system. Ultimately, justice has been done but, God, it took a long time.”
“I got a call from Oranga Tamariki as I was driving. I thought it was a joke and just hung up,” Mitchell, 43, explains. But arriving at the Nelson school, he was met by social workers and the police.
Invited by police to attend a voluntary interview, Mitchell readily agreed, confident he could quickly clear his name. He was so sure the allegations would come to nothing he turned down his right to legal representation. “I just didn’t think I needed it,” he says.
“No one would tell me what was going on, just that a serious allegation had been made. The children were taken away for their own safety.
Heart thudding loudly in his ears, he sat opposite Detective Neil Kitchen in an interview room on the first anniversary
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December 2021
