Peter Mahon

Peter Thomas Mahon (1 November 1923 – 11 August 1986) was a New Zealand High Court judge. He led a Commission of Inquiry into the 1979 crash of Air New Zealand Flight 901 into Mount Erebus. His assessment of the airline's witnesses having engaged in "an orchestrated litany of lies" is one of the most well-known quotes in New Zealand, brought him offline with the establishment and made him a national hero. Early life and family Born in Christchurch on 1 November 1923, Mahon was the son of Agnes Helen Mahon (née Tankard) and Cecil Owen Mahon. He was educated at St Bede's College and went on to study law at Canterbury University College from 1940. After two years at university, Mahon enlisted in the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force, seeing active service in Italy and rising to the rank of second lieutenant, and then serving in J Force after the end of the war. He subsequently returned to complete his Bachelor of Laws degree and was admitted to the bar in 1947. Early legal career Mahon began his legal career with the Raymond, Donnelly & Co. He was mentored by Sir Arthur Donnelly. Mahon was junior counsel for the prosecution in the Parker–Hulme murder case in 1954. At the commencement of the trial Mahon was assisting Alan Brown. Brown withdrew during the trial and was later admitted to Sunnyside Hospital.