Private investigator charged with impersonating cop didn’t hold PI licence
CHRIS SKELTON/STUFF
Shane Casbolt leaving the Christchurch District Court in May.
A supposed private investigator (PI) earlier charged with impersonating a police officer didn’t hold a PI licence at the time, it’s been revealed.
Shane Casbolt appeared in the Christchurch District Court in May after he was charged for entering the courthouse in September 2021 while wearing a black stab-proof vest with a New Zealand coat of arms and carrying a baton and pepper spray.
Casbolt had introduced and presented himself as an “investigation officer” for his company, Canterbury Investigation Services, when he entered the court. He told court security he had a right to wear the vest, pepper spray and baton as he often served documents on behalf of the courts.
Judge Gerard Lynch dismissed the charge, saying while Casbolt’s attire somewhat resembled a police officer’s uniform, no member of the public would have believed he was one.
However, it’s now emerged Casbolt didn’t have the right licence to call himself a private investigator and an earlier bid for a licence had been denied by the Private Security Personnel Licensing Authority.
In a December decision, the authority formally reprimanded Casbolt for his behaviour and fined him $500.
He was also ordered to hand in his ID badge and other licences, in the classes of crowd controller, personal guard and property guard.
GEORGE HEARD/STUFF/STUFF
Casbolt appeared in the Christchurch District Court in May, where the impersonation charge was dismissed. (File photo)
In emails to the authority, Casbolt denied he had worked as a private investigator, but the authority ruled what he had done at the courthouse in September 2021 did constitute private investigation work.
The authority noted while Casbalt had been acquitted on the charge of impersonating a police officer, he was found guilty on a charge of possessing an offensive weapon. He was discharged without conviction.
“The Judge, when discharging Mr Casbolt on the offensive weapon charge, noted that Mr Casbolt’s behaviour resulted from an inflated sense of ego and poor decision-making … I agree,” the authority said.
Casbolt had been warned, following a a previous complaint to the authority, that he did not hold the right licence to act as a PI and was rejected when he subsequently applied for it.
“This was because Mr Casbolt had not provided evidence to show he was receiving on-the-job training to supplement the study he had completed,” the decision said.