George Moulden suffered a miscarriage of justice in 2014, and more recently was arrested for a crime he didn't commit.

An Auckland man who was twice imprisoned for crimes he did not commit believes he was unfairly targeted by police.

In both cases, George Moulden was incorrectly identified from police photo boards shown to witnesses to pick out the culprit.

Moulden is now launching a compensation bid for his wrongful conviction and most recent stint in prison.

He is being supported by Tim McKinnel, the private investigator who helped free Teina Pora who spent more than 20 years incarcerated for a rape and murder he did not commit.

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"We are really concerned about how George has ended up in this position twice," McKinnel told Stuff.

Moulden, 43, suffered what the Court of Appeal found to be a miscarriage of justice in 2014 when he was imprisoned for over a year for an aggravated burglary and aggravated assault.

LAWRENCE SMITH/STUFF Tim McKinnel is helping Moulden with his compensation bid.

He was arrested, in part, because witnesses mistakenly picked him off a photo board of potential suspects.

The Court of Appeal threw out the conviction last year, ruling witness descriptions did not ​match Moulden and that the photo used was highlighted - making him stand out.

Moulden was freed, but in March he was again arrested after being identified as the culprit of another assault.

He was imprisoned for two months while awaiting trial. However, last month the Crown withdrew their charges because forensic evidence collected at the scene cleared him.

"It's a serious thing when someone who has already been wrongfully imprisoned is imprisoned again for a crime they had no involvement in," McKinnel said.

The Court of Appeal ruled in Moulden's 2014 case the photo board shown to witnesses had a "sheen" across his photo, which was not present in the other images.

There were also "plainly important contextual inconsistencies" between the witness statements and Moulden's actual appearance, the ruling said.

This was similar to his most recent charge, where witnesses described the offender as having no tattoos and stringy hair - Moulden was bald at the time and has three distinct tattoos.

"That begs the questions, why does George keep being put on these photo boards?," McKinnel said.

"It's troubling that the type of evidence used to arrest and charge George most recently is exactly the type of evidence which resulted in his miscarriage of justice.

"We will be looking into exactly how and why the police chose to place his photo on these boards."

Moulden, who has a lengthy criminal record, said having previous convictions was no excuse to target someone for something they didn't do.

"Who else has gone to prison twice for crimes they did not commit?," Moulden said.

He believes police in south Auckland have been putting his photo on photo boards as a way to wear him down.

SUPPLIED The picture of George Moulden used on the most recent photo board.

"I have never had a good relationship with the police. I have done things I am not proud of. But for the police and Crown to come after me like they did, that is unheard of.

"The police don't like me and they showed that by trying to lock me up for something I didn't do. It was all personal."

How much compensation Moulden may be entitled to was still being assessed, McKinnel said.

Moulden's lawyer Susan Gray said she was unable to comment while the compensation bid was ongoing, but said the case was "cause for concern".

Detective Inspector Fa'amanuia Va'aelua of Counties Manukau Police rejected claims the police had acted inappropriately.

"There is no evidence to suggest that any police officer intentionally targeted Mr Moulden," he said.

Despite the Court of Appeal ruling Moulden had suffered a miscarriage of justice, Va'aelua told Stuff Moulden had not been "wrongfully imprisoned".

"Police remain of the view that there was sufficient evidence to support decisions to charge Mr Moulden in 2014 and 2018.

"There is no finding that Mr Moulden has been wrongfully imprisoned," he said.

Moulden had been placed on the photo boards due to his past offending and his description matching witness accounts, Va'aelua said.

FAIRFAX NZ Detective Inspector Fa'amanuia Va'aelua strongly denied claims police had acted inappropriately.

"Given his history, the offence locations and the fact he fitted the general offender's description given in both cases he was nominated as a suspect."

The 2014 photo board had a "technical issue" and police had made sure to improve their process since, Va'aelua said.

"This learning was reflected in the photo board used in the 2018 case."

Manukau Crown solicitor Natalie Walker, whose office prosecuted Moulden in both cases, said she was confident photo board evidence was used correctly.

"Given its potential evidential importance there are strict rules around how the procedures are carried out by police," she said.

"The admissibility of identification evidence is regularly challenged prior to trial, as was to occur in this case had the Crown decided instead to proceed."

According to Walker, if photo board evidence was admitted at trial judges would often give very careful direction to juries as to how much weight to put on it.

The Crown had followed prosecution guidelines and was confident in their handling of Moulden's case, Walker said.

"The Crown's decision not to proceed with the prosecution reflects its ultimate determination that the photo board identification evidence was not reliable enough to prove the defendant's identity beyond reasonable doubt.

"However, it would not have been appropriate for the Crown to reach that position until the ESR analysis had been completed."

The Minister of Police Stuart Nash was approached for comment but declined.