Police raised concerns about an email Doherty sent to Ardern in 2021 offering to be part of her security detail. Photo: POOL / Stuff / Robert Kitchin
A security guard with links to the Mongols Motorcycle Club wrote to then-prime minister Jacinda Ardern offering to join her security team.
John Doherty also emailed the police with a proposal that he go undercover and conduct private investigations on their behalf.
However, Doherty did not hold a private investigator's licence despite advertising extensively on social media that he was about to start his own security business.
"From Mobile and Static Security Patrols to Guard services, Cash and Bank Deliveries, and specialised security solutions for Weddings, Events, Functions, and more, Boulder Bank Security is your one-stop destination for premium protection," that advertisement read.
Doherty even sent it directly to the police and to the Private Security Personnel Licensing Authority, which administers the kinds of licence that Doherty did not possess.
What he had was a certificate of approval, which qualifies a person to work in positions such as a security guard or parking warden.
Despite the authority reminding Doherty that he needed a separate licence to run a security business, he continued to advertise on Facebook.
However, it was his links to the Mongols Motorcycle Club - a notorious criminal gang - that first called into question his suitability to hold even a Certificate of Approval and saw police apply for the authority to cancel it.
At a hearing held last month, Doherty was called on to explain his links to the gang, which he applied to join in 2022.
He described the members of the chapter as "clean-cut moderates" and said he wanted to join only for the camaraderie of a joint interest in American motorcycles.
He insisted that the Mongols were a club rather than a gang.
He told the authority that his first contact with the club was to discuss siting two containers on the land surrounding its clubhouse, installing 24-hour lighting and hydroponic systems to grow berries and capsicums.
"Mr Doherty's view of the Mongols and his association with them is at best naive," authority head Trish McConnell said in her recently released ruling.
"It is not reasonable for anyone to think that such a horticultural system at a gang clubhouse would only be used for growing vegetables and berries."
McConnell said that, if police and the Private Security Personnel Licensing Authority had known about his association with the gang, he would never have been granted his last licence.
Along with Doherty's connection to the Mongols, police raised concerns about an email he sent to Ardern in 2021 offering to be part of her security detail.
A police officer who spoke to him about that email said he appeared to be "delusional", while Doherty claimed he was merely aiming high.
The same year he was involved in a drunken car crash from which he fled. He was also served with a harassment notice from police after becoming infatuated with a 17-year-old girl.
He then accused the police of "hounding" him over his association with the Mongols and of abusing their powers.
"I am capable of rubbing shoulders with gang members without going over to the dark side," he said.
"It's a case of honour amongst thieves, all of the Mongols were absolute gentlemen to each other and to me. I made it clear I was there for the camaraderie and the (nothing but American) motorcycles, not for illicit purposes."
Doherty said he would visit the Mongols' clubhouse bar for a drink on a Friday but had no intention of engaging in the criminal side of the organisation.
"I made it clear that, if I saw any criminal activity, then I would be out.
"From my side of things, I know my association was an innocent one and that was good enough for me."
In regards to his offer to work in Ardern's security detail, he said he felt he could have been useful.
"I think police saw themselves on one side of the fence and viewed me as being on the other side and didn't consider whether I could be useful or not."
Despite his insistence that it was not necessary to cancel his security licence, that was exactly what the Private Security Personnel Licensing Authority opted to do.
"I accept Mr Doherty no longer associates with the Mongols," McConnell said in her ruling.
"However, I do not accept his assurances that he will not in future associate with any other outlaw motorcycle gang given his insistence that such groups are clubs and not gangs and his failure to accept that such an association is not appropriate for a certificate holder.
"I also accept the police submission that Mr Doherty's inability to accept such things as emailing the Prime Minister, offering his services to police to go undercover, and harassing a 17-year-old woman are not appropriate and his claim that he was only doing his civil duty raises questions about Mr Doherty's fitness to be a security guard and his mental health in general."
McConnell found Doherty guilty of misconduct and not suitable to hold a certificate of approval because of that.
"Mr Doherty still refuses to accept that he has done anything wrong, and he says it is the authority and police who are out of touch with normal behaviour and reality and not him."
- This story first appeared in the NZ Herald