Mr Cribb, convicted after Ford's false evidence, and his main supporter, Mr Potter, said they were pleased justice had finally been done.
"I've been cleared, and Ford's going to jail as a result of what he did, and [Constable Dairne] Cassidy has pleaded guilty," Mr Cribb said yesterday after Ford was sentenced to two years and four months in jail for perjury.
"But there's still other people involved in the inquiry that need to be investigated before this is all over."
A Dunedin jury decided last month that Ford (56) deliberately gave false evidence to mislead the judge at the February 2006 prosecution of Mr Cribb (then 17) for careless driving causing injury.
Ford, then a senior constable, claimed Mr Cribb was responsible for a crash near Alexandra six months earlier when Ford's Holden Rodeo was "T-boned" by Mr Cribb's Honda.
The youth was convicted, but the conviction was later quashed and Ford charged with perjury after further inquiries into his evidence in the light of specialist crash analysts' findings and new witness statements.
Mr Potter, who is the father of Mr Cribb's former girlfriend, has fought for five years to uncover the wrongdoing.
He thought Ford's sentence was "pretty light" given he had never shown any regret, nor admitted what he did, and had even blamed his mistake on someone else.
"He hasn't really taken into account what he's done to a young teenager, to our family and the community, as well as to the reputation of the police," Mr Potter said.
Having said that, the whole thing should never have got as far as it had.
"An officer lying didn't change the evidence at the accident scene."
He did have some sympathy for Ford, who he felt was used as a scapegoat.
"To some extent they did hang him out to dry."
Many other officers were implicated in the series of mistakes that police themselves acknowledged were made, but no others had appeared to have been held accountable.
Police had dealt with the matter poorly.
"They, too, have not taken into account what has happened to a young person's life. [The original charge] was not a serious charge, but Shane took it very seriously and an injustice always weighs heavily on a person."
While it was good to close this chapter and move on, the battle was not over and they still looked forward to a "fairly substantial" report from the Independent Police Conduct Authority on the police's handling of the case, Mr Potter said.
Southern police district superintendent Bob Burns said the incident was "absolutely appalling", but he felt rather than damaging the police's reputation, the swift and decisive actions of police management once it became aware of the inappropriate behaviour showed officers were held accountable and sent a good message to the public.
Cassidy, who was part of the general duties staff at Alexandra police station, and Ford, a member of the commercial vehicle investigation unit run out of Christchurch, both resigned shortly after their convictions.
He confirmed other officers had faced internal police investigations after the incident came to light, but declined to say how many were investigated or what the outcome of those investigations were.
He did not accept that other officers, including senior staff, must have known what really happened right from the start.
He declined to comment on whether any senior officers' actions in relation to the incident were investigated and said he would comment on those matters and issues around alleged bullying of Cassidy by her superior officer once Cassidy was sentenced in November.
With regards to why no independent crash scene analysis was done in this case, it was unlikely it would ever have been, given police were often involved in crashes and did not have the capacity to call independent reviewers in on every case, he said.
"We've got a very good process ourselves, and had it been followed on this occasion, it wouldn't have required an independent review."
What happened in Alexandra in 2005 would not happen now, he said.
"We've learned a number of lessons from this particular incident, especially relating to police-vehicle crashes and also investigations of allegations against police personnel."
All such cases now passed over his desk so he could make sure the investigations were carried out appropriately.
Very few of the same staff were still working at the Alexandra police station and there was a different management structure and performance management regime in place at the station, Supt Burns said.
Ford will be eligible to be considered for parole in July.
His lawyer told the court Ford would not cope well with a prison term, given his physical and emotional problems, and especially because he was a police officer.
A Corrections spokeswoman said all new inmates were assessed as to their suitability and the safety risks for them around certain types of confinement.
Some were placed in a special at-risk unit as a result, but all prisoners had the option to request voluntary segregation.
