The police raid on piracy accused Kim Dotcom's Auckland mansion was similar to an anti-terrorist strike, a court has heard.
Detective Inspector Grant Wormald of the Organised and Financial Crime Agency of New Zealand (OFCANZ) was cross-examined by Dotcom's lawyer Paul Davison on Friday about using the elite Special Tactics Group (STG) in the January raid.
Mr Davison told the High Court at Auckland that officers smashed down a door at the home, pointed guns at the children's nannies before demanding if there were any bombs or guns on the property.
Residents at the house were then herded out of the house at gunpoint.
"It was a woefully incompetent and inept performance... inappropriate, heavy handed, inhumane and entirely unnecessary," Mr Davison said.
Mrs Dotcom, who was pregnant with twins, was treated inhumanely and kept from going to her children who were also at the property, he said.
Det Insp Wormald was also accused of distorting the truth in a news release sent to media soon after the raid.
The release said police had to cut their way into a safe room where Dotcom was holed up but they were actually shown to the room which wasn't locked.
"You've distorted the truth in the way that has been described to make it look like a justifiable use of the STG and Armed Offenders Squad," Mr Davison said.
In his defence Det Insp Wormald said the STG was able to ensure that the arrests were made quickly and that the evidence was secured safely and efficiently.
The FBI had said Dotcom was capable of destroying evidence at the push of a button.
"Our actions meant he was located quickly, evidence was retained and on that basis it was deemed a success," he said.
This week's court hearing into the police raid on the Megaupload founder's home follows on from a ruling in late June that the search warrants used to carry out the raid were invalid.
The hearing will determine what should happen to some of the evidence seized.
Dotcom and his three co-accused, Mathias Ortmann, Finn Batato and Bram Van der Kolk, face copyright, racketeering and money laundering charges in the US.
The case continues although the next court date for the hearing has yet to be set.
An extradition hearing is scheduled for March next year.
NZN
