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wasn’t an option we followed up.”

Stewart — the security specialist whose clearances were high enough for him to be charged with protecting the Prime Minister — would remain a mysterious blindspot for police. There were also no answers as to why his details were not included in the police dossier of those known to work or live at the property. It wasn’t deliberate, said Wormald. Was it, asked Davison, because the presence of an inside man would have been inconvenient when the time came to storm the mansion? No, the officer responded.

Small details were passed on. When fears were expressed about the kidnapping threat faced by members of the Dotcom family, community constable Homan asked if they considered getting a dog. He was told they would not because of concern it might bite a member of the household.

Not only had Homan been welcomed to the mansion, said Davison, but so had other police two weeks earlier when called by the disgruntled former staff member claiming assault. Didn’t it suggest a law-abiding family, asked Davison. Homan’s report had talked of the staff leaving doors to the mansion unlocked, and when tried during the raid, they were unlocked. But “don’t underestimate these guys”, he said. Police approaching the house — prior to the raid — were stopped on their way to the main house. It shows “it’s not a case of just strolling up to the front door”. It wasn’t that simple, said Wormald. “There was a few layers of the onion we had to get through before we got to the heart of it.”

Speed was the key.

“The main concern we had . . . was still the ability to retain the evidence and ensure there was no destruction of it. In order to do that, we needed to get into the house without any delay.” And, Wormald conceded, there was the issue of the device apparently carried by Dotcom which could “delete servers around the world”.

Davison: Just suppose for a moment that Mr Dotcom did have a device like that and that he was carrying it with him or had it near him because he wanted to take the first opportunity of deleting evidence that might be incriminating of him in the event that any concerns arose. You’d expect him to keep it handy at all times, wouldn’t you?

Wormald: Yes.

Davison: To press a button or to activate a system like that in a handheld device of some kind would take seconds, wouldn’t it?

Wormald: Yes. That was the advice that I was given.

Davison: So if you want to stop him from accessing such a device you needed to be able to secure him within seconds?

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