A High Court judge has ruled two Dunedin men had their rights breached when police raided their homes looking for evidence they were working while claiming ACC benefits.
In a decision released on Wednesday on the 2006 raids, Justice Christian What said Bruce Van Essen and Jason Patterson were entitled under the Bill of Rights Act to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.
ACC suspected the men were working - Mr Van Essen running a website business and Mr Patterson conducting surfing lessons - while claiming benefits.
It employed private detectives Peter Gibbons and Graham Scott to investigate the respective cases.
However, when police were brought in to carry out searches, the warrants they used were unlawful because they were poorly drafted and didn't have enough information from ACC to justify the raids.
Mr Gibbons was also the father-in-law of Constable Andrew Henderson, who looked after the warrant for Mr Van Essen.
Justice Whata said the searches had gone too far and irrelevant personal information had been seized. There had been an "almost forensic interrogation into the most private spaces and affairs of both [men]".
Both men also had their seized property kept from them for a long time.
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