diff --git a/app/controllers/post_actions_controller.rb b/app/controllers/post_actions_controller.rb
index 7a2fbbd01..2b4964881 100644
--- a/app/controllers/post_actions_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/post_actions_controller.rb
@@ -80,8 +80,8 @@ class PostActionsController < ApplicationController
 
       finder = Post.where(id: post_id)
 
-      # Include deleted posts if the user is a moderator (to guardian ?)
-      finder = finder.with_deleted if current_user.try(:moderator?)
+      # Include deleted posts if the user is a staff
+      finder = finder.with_deleted if guardian.is_staff?
 
       @post = finder.first
       guardian.ensure_can_see!(@post)
diff --git a/app/controllers/topics_controller.rb b/app/controllers/topics_controller.rb
index 31f671021..52704a80d 100644
--- a/app/controllers/topics_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/topics_controller.rb
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@ class TopicsController < ApplicationController
   skip_before_filter :check_xhr, only: [:show, :feed]
 
   def show
-
     flash["referer"] ||= request.referer
 
     # We'd like to migrate the wordpress feed to another url. This keeps up backwards compatibility with
@@ -197,14 +196,20 @@ class TopicsController < ApplicationController
   def destroy
     topic = Topic.find_by(id: params[:id])
     guardian.ensure_can_delete!(topic)
-    topic.trash!(current_user)
+
+    first_post = topic.ordered_posts.first
+    PostDestroyer.new(current_user, first_post).destroy
+
     render nothing: true
   end
 
   def recover
     topic = Topic.where(id: params[:topic_id]).with_deleted.first
     guardian.ensure_can_recover_topic!(topic)
-    topic.recover!
+
+    first_post = topic.posts.with_deleted.order(:post_number).first
+    PostDestroyer.new(current_user, first_post).recover
+
     render nothing: true
   end
 
diff --git a/lib/guardian/post_guardian.rb b/lib/guardian/post_guardian.rb
index 6c0c5aefd..f90b1eeda 100644
--- a/lib/guardian/post_guardian.rb
+++ b/lib/guardian/post_guardian.rb
@@ -8,16 +8,19 @@ module PostGuardian
     already_taken_this_action = taken.any? && taken.include?(PostActionType.types[action_key])
     already_did_flagging      = taken.any? && (taken & PostActionType.flag_types.values).any?
 
-    if  authenticated? && post
+    if authenticated? && post
       # we allow flagging for trust level 1 and higher
       (is_flag && @user.has_trust_level?(:basic) && not(already_did_flagging)) ||
 
       # not a flagging action, and haven't done it already
       not(is_flag || already_taken_this_action) &&
 
-      # nothing except flagging on archived posts
+      # nothing except flagging on archived topics
       not(post.topic.archived?) &&
 
+      # nothing except flagging on deleted posts
+      not(post.trashed?) &&
+
       # don't like your own stuff
       not(action_key == :like && is_my_own?(post)) &&
 
@@ -35,6 +38,7 @@ module PostGuardian
 
   # Can we see who acted on a post in a particular way?
   def can_see_post_actors?(topic, post_action_type_id)
+    return true if is_admin?
     return false unless topic
 
     type_symbol = PostActionType.types[post_action_type_id]
@@ -49,10 +53,6 @@ module PostGuardian
     true
   end
 
-  def can_see_deleted_posts?
-    is_staff?
-  end
-
   def can_delete_all_posts?(user)
     is_staff? &&
     user &&
diff --git a/lib/post_destroyer.rb b/lib/post_destroyer.rb
index 7ade50a8f..4a62ac9b2 100644
--- a/lib/post_destroyer.rb
+++ b/lib/post_destroyer.rb
@@ -26,7 +26,8 @@ class PostDestroyer
   end
 
   def initialize(user, post)
-    @user, @post = user, post
+    @user = user
+    @post = post
   end
 
   def destroy
@@ -38,11 +39,15 @@ class PostDestroyer
   end
 
   def recover
+    puts "@" * 100
+    puts "staff? #{@user.staff?}"
+    puts "post.deleted_at #{@post.deleted_at}"
     if @user.staff? && @post.deleted_at
       staff_recovered
     elsif @user.staff? || @user.id == @post.user_id
       user_recovered
     end
+    @post.topic.recover! if @post.post_number == 1
     @post.topic.update_statistics
   end
 
@@ -68,7 +73,7 @@ class PostDestroyer
       @post.update_flagged_posts_count
       remove_associated_replies
       remove_associated_notifications
-      @post.topic.trash!(@user) if @post.topic and @post.post_number == 1
+      @post.topic.trash!(@user) if @post.topic && @post.post_number == 1
       update_associated_category_latest_topic
     end
     publish("deleted")
diff --git a/lib/topic_view.rb b/lib/topic_view.rb
index f9004cdbf..44e480e7f 100644
--- a/lib/topic_view.rb
+++ b/lib/topic_view.rb
@@ -190,6 +190,7 @@ class TopicView
   def has_deleted?
     @predelete_filtered_posts.with_deleted
                              .where("posts.deleted_at IS NOT NULL")
+                             .where("posts.post_number > 1")
                              .exists?
   end
 
@@ -352,7 +353,7 @@ class TopicView
     # copy the filter for has_deleted? method
     @predelete_filtered_posts = @filtered_posts.spawn
     if @guardian.can_see_deleted_posts? && !@show_deleted && has_deleted?
-      @filtered_posts = @filtered_posts.where(deleted_at: nil)
+      @filtered_posts = @filtered_posts.where("deleted_at IS NULL OR post_number = 1")
       @contains_gaps = true
     end
 
diff --git a/spec/components/guardian_spec.rb b/spec/components/guardian_spec.rb
index fcc004822..8512afd11 100644
--- a/spec/components/guardian_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/components/guardian_spec.rb
@@ -40,6 +40,11 @@ describe Guardian do
       Guardian.new(user).post_can_act?(post, :like).should be_false
     end
 
+    it "returns false when the post is deleted" do
+      post.deleted_at = Time.now
+      Guardian.new(user).post_can_act?(post, :like).should be_false
+    end
+
     it "always allows flagging" do
       post.topic.archived = true
       Guardian.new(user).post_can_act?(post, :spam).should be_true
diff --git a/spec/controllers/posts_controller_spec.rb b/spec/controllers/posts_controller_spec.rb
index 39e9ec9e5..27e2869fa 100644
--- a/spec/controllers/posts_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/controllers/posts_controller_spec.rb
@@ -36,6 +36,12 @@ shared_examples 'finding and showing post' do
       xhr :get, action, params
       response.should be_success
     end
+
+    it "can find posts as a admin" do
+      log_in(:admin)
+      xhr :get, action, params
+      response.should be_success
+    end
   end
 end
 
diff --git a/spec/controllers/topics_controller_spec.rb b/spec/controllers/topics_controller_spec.rb
index 88b46af2d..1a816302f 100644
--- a/spec/controllers/topics_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/controllers/topics_controller_spec.rb
@@ -501,7 +501,7 @@ describe TopicsController do
         end
 
         it 'succeeds' do
-          Topic.any_instance.expects(:recover!)
+          PostDestroyer.any_instance.expects(:recover)
           xhr :put, :recover, topic_id: topic.id
           response.should be_success
         end
@@ -516,33 +516,27 @@ describe TopicsController do
     end
 
     describe 'when logged in' do
-      before do
-        @topic = Fabricate(:topic, user: log_in)
-      end
+      let(:topic) { Fabricate(:topic, user: log_in) }
 
       describe 'without access' do
         it "raises an exception when the user doesn't have permission to delete the topic" do
-          Guardian.any_instance.expects(:can_delete?).with(@topic).returns(false)
-          xhr :delete, :destroy, id: @topic.id
+          Guardian.any_instance.expects(:can_delete?).with(topic).returns(false)
+          xhr :delete, :destroy, id: topic.id
           response.should be_forbidden
         end
       end
 
       describe 'with permission' do
         before do
-          Guardian.any_instance.expects(:can_delete?).with(@topic).returns(true)
+          Guardian.any_instance.expects(:can_delete?).with(topic).returns(true)
         end
 
         it 'succeeds' do
-          xhr :delete, :destroy, id: @topic.id
+          PostDestroyer.any_instance.expects(:destroy)
+          xhr :delete, :destroy, id: topic.id
           response.should be_success
         end
 
-        it 'deletes the topic' do
-          xhr :delete, :destroy, id: @topic.id
-          Topic.exists?(id: @topic_id).should be_false
-        end
-
       end
 
     end