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NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE, No. 37

15 FEBRUARY 2005

the bank, who raised the alarm. At this, the robber ran away.
Mr Jones observed the robber carrying a gun and being
chased by Mr Peter Duncan and Mr Paul Chandler. He
decided to assist. The three men pursued the robber down an
alleyway. Realising he was being chased, the robber stopped
and pointed the firearm at them, then turned and continued
to run. The three men also continued their pursuit. The
robber got into a stolen vehicle and was subsequently able to
get away, however, the assistance of Mr Jones and the two
other men and the information they gave the Police resulted
in the subsequent apprehension and conviction of three men.

Graham Robert FORD
Sergeant, New Zealand Police

Citation
On 17 November 2001, the Police were called to a violent
domestic incident in Northcote, Auckland. By the time
Sergeant Ford arrived, a man had already assaulted two
women, threatened to kill everyone present with a large
carving knife, thrown a television set at a Police Constable
and resisted pepper spray. Sergeant Ford observed the man
lifting his one-month-old daughter into the air with one
hand, while holding the knife in the other. Sergeant Ford
and his staff forcibly entered the house and instructed the
man to drop the knife, at which point the man partly
undressed the baby, exposing her chest while making
motions to stab her. Pepper spray was again used, but was
only effective in distracting the man momentarily. Sergeant
Ford used this moment to tackle the man, throwing his knife
out of reach, while other officers restrained him. The baby
was saved from harm and the offender was subsequently
convicted of numerous charges.

John VAUGHAN (deceased)

Citation
On 15 May 2002, a man entered the Mangere Bridge branch
of the ASB Bank, wearing a disguise and carrying a loaded
firearm in a bag. As he entered the bank, he removed the
firearm and approached the customer services representative,
pointing the firearm at her and demanding entry into the
teller area security alcove. Teller Mr Vaughan observed
these actions from the secure alcove area and realising what
was happening, allowed the offender entry as he was
instructed to do during bank staff training, thus diverting the
robber’s attention from the other customer services
representative. The offender entered the area and confronted
Mr Vaughan and another teller, pointing the firearm at both
of them and demanding that they fill his bag with money. As
the tellers filled the bag, the offender told Mr Vaughan that
he was going to shoot him in the head and then racked his
firearm while pointing it at the tellers. The tellers continued
loading the bag, then Mr Vaughan handed it to the offender.
During this time, Mr Vaughan had attempted to take the lead
and keep the other teller away from danger as much as
possible. The two tellers then stood passively behind the
counter with their arms raised in the surrender position. On
his way out of the bank, the offender leaned forward over
the counter and shot Mr Vaughan in the head. Mr Vaughan
died within hours from the gunshot wound. The offender
was subsequently convicted of the murder of Mr Vaughan.

Duncan TAYLOR
Detective Constable, New Zealand Police (deceased)

Citation
At about 1.00 p.m. on 5 July 2002, Detective Constable
Duncan Taylor and Detective Jeanette Park went to Taipo
Road, Rongotea, to warn a local family that a person known
to them may have returned to the area. While talking to the
family, they saw the person concerned drive past the house.
The two officers followed his vehicle, which then stopped.
As the Police officers got out of their vehicle, the person
drove off and returned to the Taipo Road address, followed
by the Police vehicle. Both vehicles stopped in the driveway
of the Taipo Road house and as the two Police officers,
who were unarmed, left their car, the male occupant of the
other car presented a rifle at Detective Constable Taylor
and, without warning, fired a single shot which killed him
instantly.

David Leonard O’LOUGHLIN

Citation
At about 1.15 p.m. on 11 July 2002, Mr O’Loughlin
and a companion were in a vehicle driving in a
southerly direction along State Highway No. 1 between
Whakapara and Hukerenui. Immediately in front of him
was a vehicle containing two women. Suddenly, the
women’s vehicle veered to the left, careered over a metal
guard barrier and off the side of a bridge. The vehicle then
travelled some distance in the swollen river before it came
to rest almost fully submerged. Mr O’Loughlin immediately
stopped and, without regard for his own safety, plunged into
the water and managed to rescue one of the women from the
sinking vehicle. He swam her back to the safety of the river
bank and then returned to the then submerged vehicle to
attempt to retrieve the other woman. He made about five
attempts but was unsuccessful. He and his companion then
comforted the rescued woman until the Police and an
ambulance arrived.

Daniel James CLEAVER
Constable, New Zealand Police

Citation
At 1.00 a.m. on 4 September 2002, Constable Cleaver, of
Kaikohe, was on duty alone when he was called to attend
to a report of burglars at a chemist shop at Okaihau,
15 kilometres away. On arrival, he disturbed two men who
ran from the scene and got into a vehicle. He attempted to
stop them by smashing the driver’s window and removing
the ignition keys. The vehicle, however, drove off, sideswiping the Police vehicle, with Constable Cleaver just
managing to pull his arm away. He pursued the men, who
stopped their vehicle and reversed it into the Police car.
They then drove off at speed, with Constable Cleaver
continuing the pursuit for some four kilometres before they
stopped again. The constable also stopped at a safe distance,
but this time the men completed a U-turn and drove their
vehicle at speed towards Constable Cleaver, hitting his
vehicle in the driver’s door and partially knocking it into a
drain. The offenders drove off again, still pursued by
Constable Cleaver. Again they completed a U-turn and
drove directly towards the Constable. He attempted to avoid
them by reversing his vehicle, but they struck it head on,
immobilising their own vehicle. Both offenders then ran into
bush, while Constable Cleaver remained at the scene and
assisted with organising a cordon until a dog unit from
Whangarei arrived some 30 minutes later.

William John GILCHRIST

Citation
On 27 October 2002, Mr Gilchrist, aged almost 70 at the
time, rescued a man from the surf off the Arawhata River.
The man had been swept into the river while whitebaiting.
Despite trying to swim to safety, he was carried out by the
strong current into the surf on the river bar. The river was
running higher than usual because of heavy rain the previous
night and the sea was significantly rougher than normal. The
man’s family noticed what had happened and tried to
persuade other whitebaiters with boats to go to his rescue.
All but one, Mr Gilchrist, declined because of the dangerous
conditions. The man had managed to stay afloat on his back
in the cold water for approximately 15 minutes before
Mr Gilchrist reached him in his small aluminium dinghy. He