The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that an off-duty officer was not justified in punching a 14-year teenage boy for stealing cigarettes from his home.

It says the officer then found the teenager in a park, punching him twice in the face, causing him to fall to the ground and possibly fracturing the boy's eye socket.

The officer was charged with injuring with intent to injure, but juries at two trials in 2020 and 2021 could not reach a verdict and the charge was dismissed.

The police say they accept the findings and the officer is no longer serving in the force.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority's investigation manager Emma Bunny spoke to Māni Dunlop.