Dark Confessions: The Teina Pora case

A 17-year-old car thief confessed to a crime he didn’t commit and spent 22 years in jail. How did one of New Zealand's worst miscarriages of justice happen?

South Auckland teenager Teina Pora was wrongly convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Susan Burdett, who had been beaten to death in her own home.

Eighteen years later, Tim McKinnel, an ex-cop turned private investigator, discovered the case, saw an injustice had been done, and set out to win Pora’s freedom.

In this upcoming UC Connect public lecture, McKinnel, the investigator who drove the successful fight to overturn Pora's convictions, and Michael Bennett, author of the book on the case In Dark Places and writer/director of the award-winning documentary The Confessions of Prisoner T, will discuss the case at the University of Canterbury on Monday 4 April at 7pm.

They will show excerpts from the controversial police interviews that lead to Teina Pora’s arrest and convictions, and answer questions from the audience after their public talk in a Q&A session.

The story of the long battle to win freedom for an innocent man is a fascinating insight into a range of issues, from the psychology of false confessions, the safety of the New Zealand justice system, and the role of media in raising public awareness.

UC Connect public lecture - Dark Confessions: The Teina Pora case, 7pm, Monday 4 April, Ilam campus of the University of Canterbury.

Please register to attend: www.canterbury.ac.nz/ucconnect

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