The Star: February 07, 2019

The Star Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Thursday February 7 2019 13
– life isn’t quiet for former cop
Do you believe justice was
served in the Sounds murders?
Yeah I do, no doubt at all.
I’ve heard all the theories, I’ve
heard everything. We lived and
breathed that [investigation] for
six months, it was a huge amount
of time and in those six months I
think I got two or three weekends
off. We were working 14-15 hours
a day. So if anyone thinks there
wasn’t a lot of work put into that
they’re very wrong.
Did you enjoy police work?
Of course. You’ve got to be
extremely dedicated and working
on an inquiry, whether it would
be Blenheim or Ashburton, it
takes you away from your home
and your family. I didn’t have
children at that stage, but I was
working with guys that did. It’s
hell of a hard on them and I don’t
think people realise that.
Why did you leave the police?
In 16 years I saw a lot of things
and I guess that while I was
still young enough, I thought I
had done a lot in the police and
I felt it was time for a change
in scenery so I ended up being
a publican. I had the Madeira
Hotel in Akaroa for a couple of
years.
So you became a publican,
that’s a bit of a change isn’t it?
HIGH PROFILE: Former detective Simon Moore worked on cases such as the Marlborough
Sounds murders of Ben Smart and Olivia Hope, and the murder of Ashburton schoolgirl Kirsty
Bentley.
The thing about the police is
that it can become very negative.
A lot of the time you’re dealing
with the very negative side of society
and you’re seeing tragedies.
You’re having to tell people that
their loved ones have been killed
and over 16 years that can take its
toll. People that have been in the
police for 30-40 years, well they
have got my admiration. They
deserve a medal. The thing about
becoming a publican is that I saw
a slightly different side to people.
Some good and some bad, but the
police career gives you a pretty
good grounding to deal with people.
You get to know a lot about
people in the police. It gives you a
really good grounding to understand
how people work and those
connections you make in the police
are lifelong connections. My
business partner [at e-Migration]
is an ex-police officer. Immigration
officers are ex-police officers,
you bump into them all the time
and they all remember you.
What were some highlights of
being a publican in Akaroa?
I knew what to expect from
people who couldn’t handle their
alcohol because I’ve dealt with
that plenty of times. But Akaroa
itself was a fantastic place to live.
A small population of locals, but
a huge population of Cantabrians
with holiday homes. So on the
weekends the place would just
swell with people from Christchurch
and when they went away it
was just your local people. I could
still be living there, but I was
made an offer for the pub and
I couldn’t refuse it. It’s bloody
hard work being a publican.
Particularly in a small town that
increases five times in size in the
weekends. Trying to find staff,
trying to please everybody and
keep within the law making sure
people aren’t drink driving, you
take that responsibility quite
heavily. As soon as I got there I
bought a courtesy van so that we
could get people home safely. To
be honest at the start there was a
bit of a sideways look from those
people who were perhaps a little
wayward of the law. But when
they found out I was there as a
publican and not a policeman it
was all good. •Turn to page 14
FISHER ALUMINIUM