I didn’t realise that Arie’s partner, Michael, is also up for sentencing on the 28th. He has already spent 6 weeks in jail, was also allegedly hit on the head by a police woman and spat at by the army.

Could anyone tell me: which police station(s) Arie and Michael were taken to, the names of any officers involved, and the hair colour of the police woman mentioned above.

This program taught me to be open-minded in an unexpected way - it showed me that Mike King wasn't a complete prat after all.

Social media has been a player in this from the other side too. 56,000 people clicked they were attending "Public Humiliation for the Looters of the 22/02/2011 Earthquake" and many commenters on it advocated violence against suspects. Police use Facebook just like everyone else, and I'm sure it emboldened them.

I think some people are being a little kind to the police here... At the beginning of March I received a call from a family member who is a Christchurch police officer. She informed me with great pride she and her fellow officers had been taking "looters" into dark areas to "give them the bash". I informed her of the Aspergers case and she said "his family should've been looking after him". I gave her a lecture on due process and she hasn't spoken to me since.
I don't think she would've felt so keen to tell me this unless there was a culture within her department that encouraged this behaviour.