Thompson & Clark caught out spying again

7 August 2008

“The director of Thompson & Clark Investigations Ltd (TCIL), Gavin Clark, has again been caught out, this time trying to hide the fact that he had approved an illegal spying incident on Department of Conservation land on Mt Augustus, near Westport.”

“Information released under the Official Information Act has revealed that TCIL was at the centre of an incident in May 2007 when Bruce Stuart-Menteath was placed under 24 hour covert surveillance whilst he was in the area counting great spotted kiwi. The public land he was on was below Solid Energy’s Stockton mine that has since expanded to take the top off the mountain, removing kiwi habitat and the last habitat of a rare native snail, Powelliphanta augustus.”

“The Mt Augustus incident resulted in a complaint by Stuart-Menteath to the Registrar of Private Investigators and Security Guards (PISG) about Provision Security Ltd (PSL), a company which Clark also directs. But this latest information reveals that the PSL employees Stuart-Menteath complained about were actually under the direction and management of TCIL.”

“However, when Stuart-Menteath made a Privacy Act request to Clark he responded that the company held no information on him and has maintained that stance in the face of an investigation by the Privacy Commissioner.”

“TCIL is a company that has a reputation for engaging in illegal activities, such as placing hidden video cameras on public land, and was recently exposed after employing a spy to infiltrate the Save Happy Valley Coalition, and attempting to employ a spy on another occasion.”

“Stuart-Menteath’s complaint was dismissed on 21 February 2008 because, after being ambushed by the Registrar PISG’s decision to bring forward the hearing of the complaint and given less than 3 hours notice, he was unable to attend. The Registrar subsequently awarded PSL $1500 costs and Clark is now seeking to bankrupt Stuart-Menteath for his failure to pay.”

“This latest development concerning the costs is all the more outrageous because, prior to the hearing date, in his evidential statement Clark actually admitted to the illegal conduct that Stuart-Menteath complained of and PSL would have been made accountable for it if the hearing had been able to proceed.”

“It is clear that Thompson & Clark is equally implicated though Stuart-Menteath has no confidence that the Registrar PISG would conduct a fair hearing if he was to make another complaint.”

“This then raises a big question mark over a DOC concession that Provision has applied for to operate over a large tract of public land surrounding the Stockton mine. If it gets the concession will that mean that Thompson & Clark will also get a concession by default and that members of the public going about their lawful business on DOC land can expect to be subjected to harassment and 24 hour covert surveillance, even when they go to the toilet at night.”

“Stuart-Menteath has opposed the bankruptcy notice on the grounds that he does not owe the costs because he has been denied an opportunity to contest them. The Registrar PISG refused him leave to appeal and, regardless, the cost of doing so, or seeking a judicial review, was prohibitive. His application will be heard at 10 am (or sometime thereafter) on 18 August in Christchurch, High Court 3.“

End