A Tauranga man denied compensation after alleging hospital staff illegally "mutilated" his son's body and "stole" his heart has made an impassioned plea for justice.
"The real essence of this case is they stole my son's heart ... My son's heart was taken without my consent, they cut a bit off it and probably the rest went to the city dump. I don't know. It's so wrong. He was my son and I loved him. I have shed a lot of tears over the illegal taking of my son's heart ... I can't let my son down. I'm going to meet him one day and I want him to be able to tell me 'dad you didn't let me down'. I just want justice," John MacKenzie told Justice Pamela Andrews.
The 80-year-old pensioner, who has filed a private prosecution against the Crown Law, made the impassioned plea in the High Court at Tauranga on Wednesday.
Mr MacKenzie alleged his 20-year-old son Kenneth's heart was unlawfully removed after his life support was turned off in Tauranga Hospital on October 2, 1987 - the day after he suffered serious head injuries in a motorcycle accident.
The doctor asked for consent to take Mr MacKenzie's aortic valve but the family refused, he said.
Mr MacKenzie, who was self-represented, claimed some aspects of legal advice given by Crown Law Office to the now disestablished Crown Health Financial Agency (CHFA) about his claim for damages was a breach of its statutory duty.
He further argued the CHFA had either acted "fraudulently or negligently" in ignoring evidence he provided to them when making the decision to deny his compensation claim.
In 2002 Mr MacKenzie began making inquiries with Tauranga Hospital about his son's heart after reading a media story about the removal of organs without consent. On March 21, 2005 the National Transplant Donor Co-ordination Office informed Mr MacKenzie the aortic valve had been removed and successfully transplanted into a 16-year-old girl's body. Mr MacKenzie claims the heart removal had been fraudulently concealed from him.
On August 31, 2006, Mr MacKenzie wrote to the CHFA to claim compensation which was referred to the Crown Law Office, and three months later he was advised it was declined.
He lodged a formal statement of claim on November 23, 2012.
Subsequent appeals to the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court were struck out, primarily because the claim for compensation was filed outside the six-year statute of limitations.
Mr MacKenzie steadfastly argued that his claim was not time-barred, and the six-years should have begun from November 24, 2006 when he received a letter from the Crown Health Financial Agency denying his original claim.
Last year he filed a further legal suit against the Crown Law Office.
On February 17 this year High Court Associate Judge Roger Bell found Mr MacKenzie had "an arguable case" to sue but ultimately struck out the case because his claim was deemed to be outside of the required time period. Mr MacKenzie has sought a judicial review of Associate Judge Bell's decision, which he argued was "manifestly unjust and wrong in law".
"I say Judge Bell failed to take into account the relevant matters. The real essence of this case is they stole my son's heart."
Crown Law solicitor Isabella Clarke argued in the High Court this week there was no fraud, or negligence in this matter and no new evidence put forward by Mr MacKenzie to enable a court to grant an extension to the six-year limitation period, or allow a substantive rehearing.
Mr MacKenzie said the Legal Services Commissioner had denied him legal aid to fight his case.
"I have had to do this all myself and it has cost me thousands of dollars. It has probably already cost the taxpayers of this country over $100,000 in court and legal costs, and if Crown would just agree to settle and give me a formal apology, that would be the end of it," he said.
Mr MacKenzie conceded he had been offered a $5000 settlement previously but refused it because the Crown's offer was on the basis it did not admit any liability.
Justice Andrews reserved her decision.