Allan Titford’s release on parole has put the spotlight back on the case that unravelled after a jury found he had burned down his own home and blamed Te Roroa.
This week, the Parole Board approved Titford’s release on his 10th application after he served nearly 13 years of his 24-year sentence for 39 offences, including arson, perjury, sexual violation and prolonged domestic violence.
As the case returns to public attention, Native Affairs’ landmark 2-part investigation, What Lies Beneath, remains an important record of how those false allegations were exposed.
Native Affairs: What Lies Beneath - Part One
Native Affairs: What Lies Beneath - Part Two
A narrative that lasted decades
For years, Allan Titford portrayed himself as a farmer under siege. He claimed Te Roroa had terrorised his family, shot his livestock and burned down his home. His allegations became part of a wider public debate about Māori land claims and Treaty settlements.
That narrative unravelled in 2013, when a Whangārei jury found Titford guilty, exposing a very different account from the one many New Zealanders had come to believe.
The convictions broke down the public image Titford had built since the late 1980s.
The story behind the claims
Court evidence showed that Titford had burned down his own home and killed his own livestock as part of an attempt to secure a Crown buyout and damage Te Roroa’s Waitangi Tribunal claim.
Native Affairs examined those claims in detail in its 2014 two-part investigation, What Lies Beneath. Drawing on court evidence, interviews with members of Te Roroa and conversations with Titford’s former wife, Whina, the investigation challenged a narrative that had persisted for decades.
The documentary also gave voice to Te Roroa, whose perspective had often been absent from earlier public discussion of the case.
How the narrative spread
Writer Anna McMartin revisited the case in her Substack essay Ake ake ake, published through The End is Naenae. She argues Titford’s claims gained traction because they were repeated by media outlets, political commentators and groups opposed to Treaty settlements.
The courts held Titford accountable for his crimes, but the harm from the misinformation went much further. For Te Roroa, years of false allegations led to public hostility and weakened public support for their Treaty settlement process.
Why the case still matters
More than a decade after What Lies Beneath first aired, the investigation remains one of Native Affairs’ most important investigations. Its reporting documented not only the criminal case against Titford, but also the broader consequences of misinformation shaping public opinion.
With Titford’s parole bringing the case back into the public spotlight, the investigation continues to provide important context for understanding one of New Zealand’s most consequential examples of false allegations against Māori.
