David Seymour’s letter to police about Philip Polkinghorne

Sunday, 9 February 2025

ACT leader David Seymour has defended a letter sharing “concerns” about police treatment of an Auckland eye surgeon being questioned over his wife’s death.

Philip Polkinghorne faced a police investigation over the 2021 death of his wife Pauline Hanna. He went on trial accused of fatally strangling her in their Remuera home, but was found not guilty in September 2024.

On Sunday, the NZ Herald reported that Seymour wrote to Auckland District Commander Karyn Malthus in 2022, saying he’d been asked by Polkinghorne to share some concerns about his treatment.

“Mr Polkinghorne has had a harrowing and traumatic experience, but feels he has been treated like a suspect rather than a traumatised member of the public,” it said.

Seymour told Stuff the letter was sent before any charges against Polkinghorne were laid.

“An electorate MP’s job is to serve their constituents. I had a constituent contact me with concerns over the way they felt they had been treated by police. As is made clear in the letter, the intention was to pass on the constituent’s concerns to police,” he said in a statement on Sunday.

“Police responded assuring good practice was being followed and there was no further correspondence on the matter. This all took place before any charges were being pursued or reporting on the case had taken place.”

The Herald said the letter accused police of treating the doctor unfairly, invading his privacy and accusing him of money laundering.

“It’s understandable that police would regard him as a person of interest. But in this instance the police appear to have gone beyond that brief. While acknowledging the difficult balance police must strike, Mr Polkinghorne feels that he has been subject to prejudice from the police in the above actions,” the letter said.