A senior Otago police officer has been slammed for carelessness that meant charges of large-scale drug-cultivation were scrapped

Former Owaka officer Senior Constable, Murray Hewitson, was responsible for two search warrants in 2020, that uncovered a large cannabis find at a farm.

The ODT reports the Court of Appeal ruled the officer had insufficient information to justify the warrants.

One issue is he didn't obtain electricity records predating the accused's occupancy - so it wasn't clear power consumption had increased.

The Court says Hewitson was aware of the requirements of the Search and Surveillance Act and knew the warrant was non-compliant.