Police say a camera containing images of crime scenes and victims was not used as a bribe to secure a reduced sentence for a man on drugs and firearms charges.
The digital camera containing hundreds of images, including a dead body and victims of domestic violence, was left at a Lower Hutt house during the execution of a drugs search warrant on December 1.
Stokes Valley man Chris Kidman said a friend gave him a DVD copy of the photos.
Kidman today denied he had asked the news media for money.
He told Radio New Zealand he was motivated to come forward as the public had a right to know when the police made such serious mistakes.
"If this DVD that I had, got into the wrong possession it could have been all over Ebay or anything. There could have been a lot of distraughted (sic) families out there." Wellington police district commander Superintendent Pieri Munro said the incident was embarrassing.
Since being notified of the DVD yesterday, staff had contacted six of the seven parties identifiable in the images.
Police had not considered any bribes, but had taken a lawful approach to the situation in offering a submission to the judge regarding sentence for the man facing charges.
Kidman alleged yesterday the camera, returned after two days, had been used by his uncle's partner to bribe police into seeking a reduced sentence, after the uncle was convicted on drug and firearms charges.
Police Minister Judith Collins said today police didn't involve her in ongoing cases, but was confident the latest issue had been dealt with appropriately.
Ms Collins said it was always concerning when lapses affecting the public occurred, and that police were embarrassed by the latest one.
"But it's also good to bear in mind that there are 420,000 offences in any year that they deal with," she told Radio New Zealand.
Regarding the alleged bribery issue, she wouldn't be drawn on whether the camera had in fact been used as a bribe, but warned it wouldn't be wise to take what Kidman said at face value.
Police were within their rights to offer a submission to a judge if someone had been helpful in assisting a case, she said.
"It's not plea bargaining, it's actually advising the judge that someone has been helpful, and that is used all the time and has been for many years." Mr Munro told Radio New Zealand a letter was written to the sentencing judge but it was not in response to any form of blackmail.
"Let me be clear here. Those are opinions that this gentleman is putting across here, that is speculation.
"Last night on TV it was inferred that there was plea bargaining. Let me absolutely refute that. There was not. The police provided a formal submission letter to be considered by the presiding judge. That is not plea bargaining." Kidman himself brought up the DVD following a recent arrest, but said police were not interested.
"I got arrested the other day. I told them I had the DVD and they laughed at me. So I kept it and I told them I was going to take it to 3 News and they just laughed at me." Kidman said his was the only copy of the images, but Mr Munro remained sceptical as he had not been notified of any downloads when the camera was returned.
He appealed for anyone else who may have the images to act responsibly.
"Do not victimise the people that are contained and identified on those images. We made a mistake...it is not their mistake." While police would be seeking the return of Kidman's DVD, he said it was somewhat redundant as he had sat down with it in his back pocket and it was now broken.
The camera incident was the second slip up by the Lower Hutt police to emerge in as many days.
It was revealed on Wednesday police had left a restricted document with members of the Mongrel Mob during a raid last month.
Housing New Zealand also came under fire this week for leaving documents with Lower Hutt gang affiliates.
Meanwhile a stoush has broken out between TVNZ and TV3 news over whether TV3 paid for access to the images.
At a police press conference TVNZ reporter Simon Bradwell provoked TV3 news, when he accused them of paying Kidman.
The allegation prompted a showdown on Radio New Zealand this morning between TVNZ's news editor Paul Patrick and TV3's head of news Mark Jennings.
