Tonight on Sunday, a story of torture and slavery right here at home. I hated him. He beat the shit out of me. What is he really? What is he really? He's evil. Evil is Allan Titford. He held us prisoner for 22 years. Darkest secrets from the house of horror. It's extraordinary. It's extraordinary. It's either that or get another hiding. A story of brutality. Did you not, any of you, think of going to the police? And immense love, loyalty and survival. Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Kia ora, I'm Miriama Kamo. He was charming, he courted the media and captured the hearts and minds of many NZers. Allan Titford's claim to fame was his high-profile land dispute, but privately, he was a slave driver, a monster and a liar. Now his wife and children have turned the tables on him. He's been jailed for 24 years for rape, violence and arson. His family bravely tells their story to Janet McIntyre. Tools, hammers, shovels, batons. He used those on you? > He used those on you? > Yeah, every` all of us kids. I hated him. I hated him. Why? Cos what he done to us. Whenever something went wrong, he used to blame it on me and just used to beat the shit out of me. The children of Allan Titford have clung to secrets all their lives,... < (CHUCKLES) ...hiding behind their smiles. Like, if I keep smiling, no one knows anything's happened ` that we just look strong; that nothing's ever hurt us. Why do you smile? I don't know. (CHUCKLES) So I don't cry. SOFT MUSIC Alyssa, the eldest of seven children, took the first step to rescue her siblings and mother on their farm at Awanui. She was 17. I raised my fist at him and said, 'Back off.' (CHUCKLES) 'I'll thump you instead, this time.' That must have taken some nerve ` to do that. Mm. I just knew` In the end, I just knew... if no one else was gonna help someone, then the family would have to do it themselves. Alyssa's actions four years ago were the beginning of the end for Allan Titford. In a landmark case, he was found guilty of 39 counts of sex, violence and arson charges, jailed for 24 years, and in a remarkable decision, the victims ` his wife and children ` waived their right to anonymity so that the public could know the real Allan Titford. He held us prisoner for 22 years, so we know what it's like to be locked up, sort of thing. For the first time, the former Mrs Titford, mother of his seven children, has stepped into the public eye. When you really get to know him, he's not the person you think he is. What is he really? What is he really? He's evil. SOFT MUSIC No chance. No stopping now. For more than two decades, Susan Cochrane was in the background, seen but not heard, as her husband engaged in engaged in a high-profile land war with Ngati Whatua. We've still got our property there, haven't we? Which hasn't been resolved. Over the title of their farm, called Solitude, at Maunganui Bluff in Northland. You know, he had those, um, eyes that always attracted people. Yeah, his eyes draw people to him. Sparkly blue eyes. Sparkly blue eyes. Sparkly, yeah. Yep. GENTLE PIANO MUSIC Susan, now 46, had fallen in love and married the whanau when she was 20, Allan seven years later. I guess, in a way, he sort of looked like a father figure to me ` being, you know, the age difference. But` Yeah, I guess that's why I was too scared to do anything, as well. When did you start getting scared of him? A... couple of months after getting married. So what happened then? You know, after being beaten and that first rape, I just felt like I was trapped and I couldn't do anything ` felt I couldn't go to my parents and tell them. I couldn't tell anybody for fear that he would kill them, like he said he would. How often did he said he would kill your parents? Um, it was sort of, like, an ongoing thing. But Allan Titford was claiming threats were being made against him. I had a gun pointed at me a few times. I had a few shots fired one time when I was in the valley. In the late '80s, as he was trying to subdivide the farm, Te Roroa iwi occupied it, claiming to the Waitangi Tribunal it was their sacred land. And here our ancestors lived, and always the reference was back to Maunganui. They want confrontation, they want me to get shot or whatever you want, so that they can get the property for nix and just put me down the road. He blocked the only road access to the bluff and won the sympathy of media. Titford is a man fighting his own private war. Then, in 1992, as he was fighting the government over a sale price for the farm,... NEWS REPORTER: The smouldering ruins of Allan Titford's property are no surprise to those in the small Northland community of Maunganui, especially not to Titford himself. He blamed the arson of his home on local iwi. It wouldn't surprise me if my house didn't get burned down at some stage. Te Roroa denied it. A Maori would never do that to his worst enemy. NEWS REPORTER: Titford and his wife came home late last night to their house full of smoke. As I opened the door, there was just a heavy blanket of smoke, which I could only see here to you. Now Susan Cochrane reveals it was not local Maori, but Allan Titford himself, who set the house alight, and Susan, a first-time mum with newborn Alyssa, was part of the plan. So you knew he was going to do this? So you knew he was going to do this? Yes. < Did he discuss it with you? < Did he discuss it with you? He told me he would do it; do it all at night. The local Maori were having a birthday party at the beach. He decided we'd go out to dinner with a friend, and then, um, he went and arranged the fire that` before we went away. And you knew? And you knew? Yes. We had to take stuff out of the house so it didn't get burnt. Did you object to it? Yes, I did, because, um, I'd just had my first baby, which was three months old, and I didn't wanna be homeless, but he was of the idea, 'You know, they'll get blamed for it, and everyone will sympathise, 'and the government will have to build us a new home... or buy the farm.' So you were willing to be part of a plan to burn down the house, leaving you homeless? I wasn't willing, but I had to. It's extraordinary. It's extraordinary. Yeah. It was either that or get another hiding. Next, the hidings would continue another 17 years. < You know you're a battered wife, don't you? < You know you're a battered wife, don't you? Yes. And children denied an education. We didn't get any NCEAs at school, either. INQUISITIVE MUSIC INQUISITIVE MUSIC CONTINUES When inspiration strikes, talk to an ANZ business banker. We have more local experts in more places to help bring your thinking to life. After Allan Titford burned down his house, the farm was bought by the government. The family group moved around properties in Tasmania and Northland, and Allan Titford had a ready-made labour force. We would be out for, say, about 6 in the morning, sometimes, till midnight at night. We'd go home, have dinner, maybe four` four hours' sleep, sometimes, and then straight back out to do it again. Did you feel like this was a loving dad? Hmm, no. He always- It just felt like we had to be slaves. Like... Like, you didn't get anything out of it, you just had to do it. How did he treat you as a slave? Made me do all the work and that while he used to just sit inside and watch TV. What did you have to do? What did you have to do? Fencing, tractor driving,... help with the milking, um, and just heaps of other farm stuff. Water piping. Did anyone ask why you weren't at school? They just said I was doing homeschool. They just said I was doing homeschool. But were you? I wasn't really. I didn't really have time to do it. So what about now? Can you read and write? Um,... I have difficulty with my reading, and my writing's still messy. I didn't get any NCEAs at school, either. Doesn't really worry me. I can still get some sort of job. Couldn't even do the homeschool at home ` had to always go help, and passed no NCEAs. I've only passed some since we've left him. So it was work on the farm and then school work at night, but... kids can't concentrate at 10 o'clock at night. And Susan too, even when she was pregnant, about to give birth, was made to work. About a week or two before. And then have the baby and come back and carry on. Me and Alyssa, James, we'd all be out working. Ulanda, most of the time, looked after the younger ones. Once, Susan says, Allan Titford pointed a gun at her. That was because, um, we'd just got a new computer, and I had no idea how to operate a computer. So he went and got the shotgun out of the room, pointed the gun at me and told me to sit down and work out how to use that computer. I mean, the little kids were screaming at the time. What was going through your head? What was going through your head? Um... I was just, you know, scared, cos, I mean, I didn't care if he hurt me, but I was scared, you know, he might start aiming at the kids or something. What did you do? What did you do? I sat there crying, tried my hardest, finally figured it out. He used to try and run me over. One day he pushed me over, started kicking me in the ribs. Another one was jumping on my neck. Grabbed me by the throat and threw me on the ground and kicked me. That's what we were always amazed, is how come the neighbours never heard us? We'd scream at the top of our lungs. But I guess they just thought, 'Just something little.' Cos even when I was at my mate's one day, I could hear these ones screaming, and they were a neighbour, and I just guess you didn't know what was happening, so you couldn't really judge. Did you not, any of you, think of going to the police? I was too scared in case they came and he'd grab one of us. There was so many of us he could grab, and then threaten to, like, hold us or something and try to kill us before the cops could help us or something. and try to kill us before the cops could help us or something. Really? > That's what we were always scared about. In May 2009, Alyssa overcame her fear as she watched her father force her mother into a pen with an angry bull. The bull was getting angrier and charging everywhere, and I said to him, 'Why would you put Mum in that pen? Why don't you get in there?' And he told me to F up, 'Be quiet, you don't know nothing.' And then I told him, 'Oh well, F you. I'm off. I'm leaving. I'm packing my shit, 'and I'll take Mum, the kids, everyone.' He goes, 'Oh, you wouldn't do that.' We both looked at each other and we said, 'Shall we do it?' And, um, yeah, if it wasn't for her standing up to her father that morning, saying that she'd take all of us away, I'd probably still be there. Taken into care by Women's Refuge, they were worried about James, left behind at the farm in Kaikohe, and they called police. The cops had guns and were all armed up to grab him out of the car. One cop comes around and goes, 'Are you James?' And then I said, 'Yeah.' And then he goes, 'Oh, jump in the cop car when you're ready. Your mum's left.' And that's when I felt way better. What was it like when you made that decision? Far, I didn't wanna stay with him. Far, I didn't wanna stay with him. ALL CHUCKLE That would be the dumb thing to do. Next, meet the woman who says they're all lying about Allan Titford. I've lived with him, and I know that these allegations are completely false. I love him. And we miss him every single day. INQUISITIVE MUSIC When inspiration strikes, talk to an ANZ home loan expert about this great rate ` 4.95% per annum, one year fixed special rate. Talk to us today. So, to get an insight into the mind of Allan Titford, in his police interview, he likened women to buses, saying, ' A new one comes along every 10 minutes.' Here's Allan Titford's new partner. He's made out to be a monster. > It's simply not true. I know it. I know it. How can you be absolutely sure about that? Because I've lived with it. I've lived with him, and I know that these allegations are completely false. Marcian Thomas met Allan Titford after Susan and the children left him. He had a sparkle in his eye, which is probably what attracted me to him, yeah. People do speak about the sparkle in the eye. So I'm not the only one who sees it. (CHUCKLES) Marcian and Allan have a 15-month-old son. Allan wanted more children, and I sa` to me, I'd already had a family. I wasn't really interested in having more children. But we discussed it. I was open to the idea, so that's what happened, and I'm very very thrilled we did. UNSETTLING MUSIC As Allan Titford faced 54 charges, Marcian was there through the four-week trial to support him. She heard the evidence that would lead to 28 convictions for assault, three for rape and further convictions for arson, perjury, fraud, attempting to pervert the course of justice, and discharging a firearm. What did you think as you heard all that? What did you think as you heard all that? I didn't believe it. And based on her own experience, she doesn't believe Susan Cochrane was ever a battered wife. I've lived through a violent relationship. Her behaviour has not been consistent with somebody that is running away and trying to start a new life away from an abusive husband. So you've been in an abusive relationship yourself? So you've been in an abusive relationship yourself? Mmm. And you saw it deteriorate and you stayed in it? You don't` At the time, you don't really see it ` when it's happening to you. And you just realise one day the position you find yourself in. So I know how it happens. So I know how it happens. That's, funnily enough, what Susan said herself. > Mmm. Mmm. The same thing. > Mmm. The same thing. > Yes. DO you stand by Allan Titford? DO you stand by Allan Titford? Absolutely. How long will you wait? > How long will you wait? > Till one of us dies. I will` I'm in there till the end. Do you feel for his new girlfriend? > I feel sorry if she's gonna sit around and wait, and then, well, by the time he comes out, he's probably gonna be too old to do anything, anyway. So I'm actually glad we've done it, to protect her, really. Put it in a box. There you are, guys. That's just to help you on your way. Susan now relies on a benefit and food parcels to feed her family. She has no access to the extensive and valuable farmland still held in trust. How wealthy is he? Well, I'm not sure. I mean, he has taken control of one of the properties, where he's not meant to. He's still got money. Are you resentful about that? Are you resentful about that? Yes. Yep, I mean, I helped build up those properties. Me and the kids, we worked. We worked hard on those properties. For breeding, you need to so... Sows. Sows. ...sows with... She's now trying to ensure her younger kids get a better education than the older ones. ...sows. (CHUCKLES) And as for the lies she's held on to on behalf of her husband ` lies about how the house burned down 21 years ago ` this week she apologised to Te Roroa iwi. I'm sorry... for standing by a man that could do these things. Sorry for the way they were blamed. What does it feel like to have done this? What does it feel like to have done this? We feel free. You know, he's not around ` you don't have to be scared of him any more. I still feel guilty about my kids ` you know, for not getting away earlier, putting them through the life they had. Alyssa and some of the others considered suicide. I always thought death would be the easiest way out, but now I notice that... by death, they're winning, not you. Glad you didn't? Glad you didn't? Yeah, I'm real glad now, cos at least I got to be at court the other day and see him go` be sentenced to now go through what we went through. Do you ever want to see him again? You know, I would like to see him, (VOICE WAVERS) and ask him why did he do it to us? Why did we have to be punished for it all? Well, about his brave kids, here's another quote from Allan Titford's police interview ` 'If they're going to turn around and get nasty, I think you've just got to cut them out 'go and start another family. Got seven. I'll get another bloody seven.' Allan Titford still deny the charges. He will be eligible for parole in eight years. Now a change of pace. Jason Pore, the wounded SAS soldier ` not a cent of compensation for losing his leg fighting for his country, and now the IRD banging at his door, and many, many people incensed at the treatment meted out to this man. 'Disgusting, NZ Defence Force. Disgusting, IRD,' said one on Facebook this week. So, what's happened since? Jason Pore's life was changed forever in 2002, when, deep in Taliban territory, his vehicle hit a landmine, just like this ` I think I probably would have been one of the first, uh, casualties, if you look at it. How's that feel? Surgeons saved Jason's right foot,... So is it in here that you're feeling a bit of the pain? All the pain is up through here, where the plates are. ...but his left leg was amputated below the knee, and for his sacrifice, he received no compensation from the NZ Defence Force, despite paying into its insurance scheme. Are you angry? > Are you angry? > Yeah, pretty much. These internal military documents obtained by Sunday clearly spell out the Jason Pore story was a skeleton in the Army's closet that they hoped would never get out. READS: From an NZDF, Army and unit perspective, it has the potential to become an embarrassing menu, should a national magazine or newspaper obtain knowledge of this matter. 'An embarrassing menu'? Yeah, um... Is it an embarrassing menu? Is it an embarrassing menu? No, it's not. No, absolutely not. Crippled physically and financially, Jason left the Army and put his life on the line in Iraq doing security work. There was a big drive to get as many security guys around to Iraq, and the Special Forces were top of the list. But the good life came to an abrupt end when the IRD hit him and his wife with a $125,000 tax bill. What was your reaction? You've got to be kidding me! You didn't compensate Jase at all, and you've got the audacity as a government department to turn up on our doorstep and say, 'We want $120,000 out of you.' Jason's tax bill has now grown to nearly half a million dollars. The viewer response was one of outrage. A fundraising campaign has been set up on the givealittle webpage, and the Prime Minister hinted the IRD should reconsider. I don't wanna direct the commissioner, because she's independent, but I'll just say, the law provides the authority for her to do that, and if she's seen the Sunday programme, she may well want to go and have a look at it. So the Prime Minister suggests there's room for movement, but the commissioner of IRD has yet to exercise that discretion. We will keep you updated. And as far as the employer at the time ` the NZ Defence Force ` it says it has no record of Mr Pore lodging a claim with the insurance company. The NZ Defence Force is talking with the insurance company now, but it says it will be up to Jason and the company to reach agreement. Now, many of you wanted to help Jason, so to do this, go to the link on our Facebook page ` Sunday TVNZ. Now, next week ` a delightful story about one of the best Christmas gifts of all ` a spontaneous and very personal gesture of goodwill ` and to a complete stranger. So much joy; so much gratitude all at the same time. Good boy. Ilona Tu is loving life with her new kidney ` a kidney donated by a perfect stranger. She's gonna walk in here in a minute... (CHUCKLES) Yeah. She is. ...with your kidney. ...with your kidney. Yes. It's gonna be exciting. Gill Buckley is the woman who donated that kidney, but it's only now the two women are about to meet. So that is next week. Kua mutu te mahi naianei ` that's our show for tonight. Remember, join us on Facebook ` Sunday TVNZ, and thanks for joining us. Nga mihi nui, hei kona.