Constable convicted after crashing into pole, hitting boy
June 24, 2008
Aaron Holmes
A police officer has been convicted after he crashed into a lamp post, knocking it down and seriously injuring an Auckland schoolboy last August.
Constable Aaron Holmes had been chasing a car that had sped from a police checkpoint when he hit the pole on Richardson Road, Mt Albert, after first crashing into a vehicle waiting at a pedestrian crossing.
The lamp post struck Farhat Buksh, 14, who had been using the crossing, leaving him with brain injuries.
Judge Ian McHardy at Auckland District Court this morning found Constable Holmes guilty of aggravated careless use of a motor vehicle causing injury.
Holmes will reappear for sentencing on August 4.
Farhat’s grandmother today said she was relieved Holmes had been convicted.
Nisha Ali said Farhat had lost all confidence in his speech and found it difficult to remember things.
But she said his family did not want Holmes to be sentenced to prison.
“I do feel sorry for him, it’s a mistake that he has made,” she said
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Senior Constable Neil Robert Ford adjudged a scumbag.
Three-year fight over; teen driver vindicated
20 Jun 2008
Central Otago
Shane Cribb left the Alexandra District Court a happy man yesterday after what he described as three years of being “stuck in a time warp”, but his supporters vowed to continue the fight for accountability.
There were tears and hugs from the more than 40 people who came to show their support.
Mr Cribb (20) said he was at last able to hold his head up with pride, after police offered no evidence at yesterday’s re-hearing on a charge of careless driving causing injury, following an accident in Earnscleugh Rd near Alexandra on July 14, 2005.
“It took just three minutes [today] to wipe away three years of injustice,” Mr Cribb said.
His lawyer would seek reimbursement, “but how do you work out what it costs for three years of one person’s life?”.
In March 2006, Mr Cribb was found guilty by Judge StephenO’Driscoll of careless driving causing injury to Senior Constable Neil Robert Ford in Earnscleugh Rd on July 14, 2005.
Mr Cribb’s vehicle had collided with an unmarked police Holden Rodeo twin-cab utility vehicle which was turning right into a driveway.
Mr Cribb was disqualified from driving for six months and fined $600, which was paid back to him after the re-hearing was granted.
In court yesterday, prosecutor Sergeant Tom Scoullar, of Dunedin, said police offered no evidence.
Judge O’Driscoll then dismissed the charge.
In making an application for costs, counsel Russell Checketts, of Alexandra, said the case had cost Mr Cribb’s supporters more than $25,000.
He presented a memorandum to the court requesting reimbursement and asked for the matter to be heard by Judge O’Driscoll at his next Alexandra court date, on September 25.
Police have 21 days to respond.
Mr Cribb maintained his innocence throughout the case and claimed the police officer made a U-turn in front of him, causing him to crash.
Steve and Denise Potter, whose daughter was Mr Cribb’s girlfriend at the time, led the fight to clear Mr Cribb’s name.
Yesterday, Mrs Potter said the family was calling for a full police investigation.
“It has taken us two and a-half years since the first trial to get this back to court, which is unbelievable and unacceptable.”
The family had provided two witnesses and two crash investigators.
“The evidence we have had is incredible,” she said.
“It is over in terms of getting Shane off the charges, but it won’t be over because no-one else is being charged,” she said.
The judge made a decision on the basis of information presented to him which was incorrect, and someone had to be made accountable for that, she said.
Mr Potter said it was not about the money.
He was disappointed there was no recognition by police in court that a mistake had been made.
There had been a suggestion of an internal police investigation, “but when you see how they do their external ones, it doesn’t give you much faith”.
He had made five separate complaints about the case over the past couple of years.
“We’re not trying to undermine the integrity of police by continuing the fight. We need the police in our community. It’s about the justice system and how it operates.”
Inspector Phil Jones, of Queenstown, confirmed yesterday police had received a complaint relating to the case and had referred it to the Independent Police Complaints Authority.
Outside court, Mr Potter publicly thanked everyone who had supported Mr Cribb throughout the lengthy proceedings.
“It’s been a very long journey and we couldn’t have done it without your support and encouragement.
“We can now put this behind us and Shane can get on with remoulding his life.
“This would have been too hard a battle to fight on our own and we needed the community support,” he said.
Mr Cribb said he had lost his job as a result of the crash and it had been difficult living from day to day, waiting to see what would happen next.
“I couldn’t go anywhere or make any plans while we were fighting the conviction, as I would have had to come backwards and forwards.”
Originally from Hamilton, Mr Cribb moved to Alexandra to live with his father and stepmother.
He was now considering returning to the North Island.
Mr Cribb’s first priority was to get a good night’s sleep.
“I haven’t slept well at all, and I had no sleep last night worrying about today,” he said.
_______________________________
Supporter frustrated by corrupt process
21 Jun 2008
Steve Potter displays the correspondence to date (photo deleted) in his fight to prove the innocence of Shane Cribb and to bring those responsible to justice. Alexandra man Steve Potter, the driving force behind a bid to prove the innocence of a young Alexandra man charged with careless use of a motor vehicle causing injury, claims police denied support for the then teenager during an interview.
Mr Potter, in a letter sent to the Police Complaints Authority in December 2005, said police interviewed Shane Cribb, then aged 17, after he collided with an unmarked police vehicle being driven by Commercial Vehicle Investigation Unit (CVIU) senior constable Neil Robert Ford in July 2005.
Mr Cribb had his conviction dismissed on Thursday, almost three years after the crash.
Attempts by the Otago Daily Times yesterday to contact police for comment were unsuccessful.
In a four-page letter to the Police Complaints Authority, Mr Potter said police unfairly and unjustly attached blame for the crash on Mr Cribb and denied Mr Cribb support when he was interviewed after the crash.
The letter said police would not allow Mr Potter to support Mr Cribb during the interview.
Mr Potter yesterday told the Otago Daily Times police had later allowed Mr Cribb’s stepmother to be at the interview.
In his letter, Mr Potter meticulously outlined the sequence of events surrounding the crash as he believed they had happened, and how police had described them, with accompanying drawings, and asked for the charges against Mr Cribb to be dropped.
He told the authority that either to pervert the course of justice to protect a fellow officer, or through an incompetent investigation that lacked thoroughness, the police had unfairly and unjustly attached blame for the accident to Shane Cribb and subsequently laid charges against him.
Judge I. A. Borrin replied in January 2006, saying the authority had no power to intervene in the prosecution process.
The authority could not direct the charges be dropped and the authority could not consider issues which were the function of the court to decide.
He said Mr Cribb could come back to the authority once court proceedings were concluded if he had any issues he wanted addressed.
Judge Borrin said he was required by law to notify the Commissioner of Police of all complaints received but he would not do that at that time, as the material Mr Potter had forwarded to the authority could be useful in Mr Cribb’s defence.
Mr Potter wrote back in May 2006 telling the authority he wished to proceed with a complaint.
The letter also made several other complaints.
Judge Borrin wrote back reiterating his earlier comments, and advised Mr Potter to ensure he made any claims he planned to make to the High Court within the required time.
He also said he had forwarded the complaint to the Police Commissioner.
Mr Potter told the Otago Daily Times yesterday he had sent a total of five letters to the Police Complaints Authority, now called the Independent Police Conduct Authority, and each time he was told it was before the courts and it was a police matter.
“I kept telling them I was not interested in them getting involved in the judicial process.
“I was only interested in them investigating the police that caused the judicial process to be required in the first place,” he told the Otago Daily Times yesterday.
A letter had also been sent to police commissioner Howard Broad urging him to intervene.
Commissioner Broad acknowledged receipt of the letter and no further correspondence was received from him, he said.
______________________________________
Young driver to take on police
04 May 2006
By EMMA DAWE
An Alexandra man has laid a complaint with the Police Complaints Authority to clear the name of an 18-year-old man found guilty of causing a car crash involving a police officer.
Steve Potter is angry Shane Te Ihorangi Cribb was found guilty of the crash, which involved Senior Constable Neil Ford on Earnscleugh Rd on July 14 last year.
Mr Potter, who is the father of Cribb’s girlfriend, said much of the defence’s expert evidence did not agree with the prosecution’s expert evidence.
“The firemen who were at the scene, the transport operators, people who passed the site, have come up to me wanting to know why Shane’s been charged.
“How come the police view is so different to everyone else’s?”
Cribb, from Alexandra, was sentenced on March 31 in the Dunedin District Court, and was fined $600 and disqualified from driving for six months.
Police stated Cribb, who was travelling north, tried to pass Mr Ford after he had slowed down and indicated a right turn into a driveway from the middle of his left-hand lane.
Cribb, who was following behind, did not see Mr Ford’s Holden Rodeo wagon until the last minute, when he braked heavily and veered on to the right-hand side of the road before colliding with Mr Ford’s vehicle.
As a result of the accident, Mr Ford suffered liver damage and shoulder injuries, and was off work for 12 days.
Cribb’s safety belt snapped in the crash and he suffered broken bones in his face, cuts to his face, a dislocated shoulder and collar bone and 18 stitches in his legs and knees.
Cribb’s defence counsel Jim Large, speaking at a defended hearing in Alexandra on March 16, said Mr Ford was at fault, as he had pulled over to the left-hand side of the road in an attempt to make a right-hand U-turn, and he had not checked to make sure the road was clear.
Mr Potter had already complained to the Police Complaints Authority, but it could not act on the complaint until all court action had ended.
He is now laying another complaint with the authority, and is also considering starting a petition to take to local MP Jacqui Dean.
He believed the Alexandra police did not investigate the accident properly.
However, Acting Area Commander Mike Cook said that from his perspective the police had done nothing wrong.
“We’ve done what we were supposed to do, which is to put the evidence before the court.
“The evidence was put before the court and the judge made his decision.”
Mr Cook said Mr Ford worked for the Christchurch police, not the Alexandra police, but had an office in Alexandra.
The decision to charge Cribb was made at the Southern District headquarters, not in Alexandra, Mr Cook said.
“I felt that because he (Mr Ford) works out of our building, it wouldn’t be kosher or proper for us to make the decision to lay charges,” he said.
Mr Cook “welcomed” Mr Potter laying a complaint with the Police Complaints Authority.
“I’m more than happy for him to do that.”
Mr Potter said while people may be wondering why he won’t drop the matter, he said it was the principle.
At one point, Cribb told him he just wanted to plead guilty and get it over and done with.
“But I said, ‘jeez, Shane, you’re not guilty’.”
Cribb felt sick to the stomach about the incident, but now wanted to fight to clear his name, Mr Potter said.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Teen policeman convicted of drink driving
May 02, 2008
A teenage police constable has been convicted of a drink driving offence committed after just eight months on the job.
Wanganui officer Philip Middleton was pulled over on Church St in Palmerston North in the early hours of September 23 last year and admitted to having had two drinks.
The 19-year-old failed a breath alcohol test at the scene and was required to undergo a blood test which recorded a reading of 112 micrograms per litre of blood.
The legal limit is 80.
At a defended hearing at the Palmerston North district court this morning, Constable Middleton was convicted by Judge Gregory Ross, and disqualified from driving for six months.
He was also ordered to pay fines of $525 and medical fees of $313.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Police politics too much for cleared dog-handler
13 March 2008
A police dog-handler who was convicted of and then cleared of assaulting a suspect with pepper spray has quit the police.
In a letter to the Police Association magazine, Peter Kenneth Jackson thanked his supporters for the help he had been given “throughout some frustrating times”.
“To those of you bold enough to have shown your continued support throughout my ordeal I thank you very much.”
Mr Jackson said while he was fortunate to serve with some very dedicated officers, there were some aspects of the service he would not miss.
“I will miss the camaraderie but will definitely not miss the politics.
“I leave the police in the knowledge that when the shit hit the fan I was there to back up the troops and to the best of my knowledge never let anyone down,” Mr Jackson wrote.
Mr Jackson was convicted and fined $500 after being found guilty of assault in October 2006.
The charge arose after it was alleged Mr Jackson unjustifiably used pepper spray on a man after an incident at a party in Masterton on March 12, 2006.
His conviction was overturned on appeal by the High Court at Wellington in December 2006.
He was unavailable for comment.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Assault victim’s outrage as ex-officer escapes punishment
January 11, 2008
A sexual assault complainant who had her details looked up by a former policeman says it was a disgrace that he resigned without facing any disciplinary action.
Tauranga woman Donna Johnson told the Herald last night she was shocked to learn former constable Steve Hales had not only accessed her details in 2006 - despite her having laid harassment complaints about him in the past - but that it took police so long to tell her.
Mr Hales is the brother of Warren Hales, who admitted abducting a woman for a pack rape by Brad Shipton, Bob Schollum and Peter McNamara in 1989.
“I think it’s disgraceful that the police have known since 2004 about an allegation of harassment that I made against Steven Hales,” said Ms Johnson. “I [also] spoke to Operation Austin in 2007 and in November of 2007 Mr Hales offers his resignation - well, sorry that’s really not good enough.”
Ms Johnson said she had heard rumours last year about Mr Hales resigning and some trouble he may have been in. She rang the police to ask if it was true but was told it could not be confirmed or denied.
It wasn’t until this week - when news of his resignation and the fact he had been checking details on the computer emerged in the media - that police contacted Ms Johnson to tell her what had happened.
“When they did phone me the day [the] story broke to tell me Mr Hales had been accessing my file they gave me the date as being January 25, 2006 that he accessed my file.”
Ms Johnson said the delay in notifying her and the fact that Mr Hales had resigned without facing any disciplinary action had made a mockery of the police system.
It also sent the wrong message to other serving officers about what they could get away with and she wanted Police Commissioner Howard Broad to “step up” and “take ownership” of what’s happened.
Warren Hales was initially found guilty of rape in a 2005 trial, but won a retrial on appeal. The rape charges were dropped and he pleaded guilty to abduction and was sentenced to 18 months’ jail.
The victim of the 1989 Mt Maunganui pack rape told 3 News she was outraged by the police decision to accept Mr Hales’ resignation when he had been looking up secret details of where she lived.
The rape victim, who has permanent name suppression, said police should have taken disciplinary action against him.
But Bay of Plenty district commander Gary Smith told the Herald no internal disciplinary action was possible as Mr Hales no longer worked for police but an investigation into whether he had committed any criminal offences was under way.
Asked if the public could have confidence in police that its data systems would not be used inappropriately, Mr Smith said: “Police have procedures and policies and these breaches were detected by police systems and they are followed up vigorously as we do with any breach of our policy. We are determining if these breaches were legitimate.”
Mr Smith said people were assuming the former police officer had no right to make the checks.
“Part of the inquiry is to determine whether these checks were made legitimately in a state of reasonableness. If they weren’t, clearly we need to look to see if there is a breach of policy, and if there is [a breach] whether it’s sufficient to warrant any criminal intervention.”
Police General Manager of Human Resources Wayne Annan, said Mr Hales was not “allowed” to resign as had been reported elsewhere.
He said under employment law the resignation could not have been turned down even if the alleged breaches had been discovered prior to his notice being submitted.
“It is a commonly held fallacy that resignations can be withheld in order to keep an individual on an employer’s books until they can be fully dealt with in a disciplinary sense,” said Mr Annan.
He said changes to the police code of conduct in February would streamline disciplinary processes but would still not impinge on a person’s ability to resign at any point.
“You can’t stop a person resigning, we’d all be slaves otherwise.”
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Cop brother looked up files on rape victim
09 January 2008
The victim of a brutal 1989 Mt Maunganui pack rape is outraged at a high-level police decision to accept the resignation of an officer caught looking up secret details of where she lives on the police computer.
The Tauranga policeman, Steve Hales, is a brother of former fireman Warren Hales, who admitted abducting the victim for a pack rape by former policemen Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum and Tauranga millionaire Peter McNamara.
The Dominion Post understands Constable Hales had been warned earlier by police to stop trying to talk to a crown witness involved in the 2005 rape trial.
It is also understood Mr Hales was found running on a treadmill by police checking on him while he was on sick leave.
The rape victim, who has permanent name suppression, said it was a disgrace Mr Hales was allowed to resign without police taking disciplinary action against him.
“They knew he was a risk from a long time ago so this time he should have been sacked on the spot for such a serious breach of police protocol,” she said.
The victim said some might think what Mr Hales did was not hugely significant, but for a victim of a violent crime it was difficult to think he would search her details for anything other than sinister reasons.
“I’m stunned that my details were even available to him. They should have been protected and only available to Operation Austin but they were not,” she said.
Operation Austin was set up to investigate police rape claims by Rotorua woman Louise Nicholas in 2004 and branched out to include multiple allegations of sexual offending by police.
The victim said there seemed to be one rule for police and another for everyone else.
“That’s why those other police officers got to be rapists. They took for granted their power and their powerful positions.”
She said Mr Hales’ actions were a deliberate invasion of her privacy and had left her frightened.
She said several weeks ago Operation Austin staff asked police headquarters to approve a “threat assessment” because of the computer breach but she had heard nothing since.
Bay of Plenty district commander Gary Smith said Mr Hales resigned weeks ago and had been on annual leave till it took effect today.
Mr Smith said Mr Hales was spoken to about “procedural matters”. Police were “still investigating some matters” but had accepted his resignation.
Mr Smith would not discuss what the “procedural matters” were but said any police officer could be sacked for using police computers for illegitimate reasons. Criminal charges could be laid in some circumstances.
Mr Hales yesterday denied that his accessing of private information on the police computer had anything to do with his resignation. Asked why he had resigned then, he said: “I’ve got nothing to say.”
The victim said the decision to allow Mr Hales to “walk into his next job saying he resigned, not that he was sacked”, denigrated the ground-breaking work by Operation Austin.
“They must be shaking their heads at this decision.”
She said it was ironic that “out of all these people the only one to come close to honesty” was Mr Hales’ brother, who admitted abducting her.
Warren Hales was initially found guilty of rape in the 2005 trial, but won a retrial on appeal. The rape charges were dropped and he pleaded guilty to abduction, receiving a sentence of 18 months’ jail.
After the retrial he walked free, as he had effectively already served the sentence before winning his appeal.
_______________________________________________
Officer looked at second complainant’s police file
10 January 2008
Steve Hayles, the police officer allowed to resign in spite of being caught looking up secret details of a brutal pack rape victim, also looked up details of another woman who formally complained that Brad Shipton sexually assaulted her.
Tauranga woman Donna Johnson said the Western Bay of Plenty area commander, Inspector Mike Clement, told her yesterday that Mr Hales looked up her details on the police computer nearly two years ago.
The Dominion Post revealed yesterday that the victim of an infamous 1989 Mt Maunganui pack rape was outraged Mr Hales was allowed to resign instead of being sacked for obtaining her address from the police computer.
Mr Hales’ resignation took effect yesterday. His brother, Warren Hales, admitted abducting the Mt Maunganui victim for a pack rape by former policemen Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum and Tauranga millionaire Peter McNamara.
Yesterday, Ms Johnson criticised the decision to allow Mr Hales to resign given that he had already been warned by police to stop trying to talk to a crown witness in the 2005 pack rape trial.
She said that in 2004 and again in 2007 she complained to police about Mr Hales, saying he had hung around her house and her children’s school to ticket her for warrant of fitness infringements in 1996.
She believed it was because she complained to a Papamoa police officer in 1995 that Shipton sexually abused her but she was threatened by another officer who told her to leave the station.
Police say they do not have sufficient evidence to lay charges.
Ms Johnson said National Crime Manager Win van der Velde told her that he and Bay of Plenty district commander Gary Smith decided to accept Mr Hales’ resignation.
Mr Smith said yesterday that police were investigating the computer breach and a decision would be made on whether “any criminality was involved”.
Ms Johnson said it was disgraceful that in spite of knowing for nearly a month that Mr Hales had looked up her details, police did not tell her about it till The Dominion Post published other revelations about Mr Hales yesterday.
“We’ve had a commission of inquiry and we’ve had promises by commissioner Howard Broad that changes have been made but looking at this, just what has changed?” Ms Johnson asked.
“It was not okay for the secrecy surrounding Mr Rickards’ resignation and now they’ve done the same with Mr Hales,” she said.
She could only imagine Mr Hales was looking up details of herself and the Mt Maunganui woman for “creepy” reasons.
“So I’d like Mr Broad to tell the public why a man who was trying to harass a police witness then looking up our details was allowed to resign with no sacking and no penalty.”
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Louise Nicholas said Clint Rickards’ resignation was a surprise.
Louise Nicholas, whose rape allegations against high-profile police officers led to court trials, is disappointed that Clint Rickards’ resignation means a disciplinary inquiry will not be held.
And she says he doesn’t deserve any “golden handshake” payout.
The assistant police commissioner, who was found not guilty of raping Mrs Nicholas, resigned yesterday, avoiding 11 internal disciplinary charges he was to face early next year.
A guilty verdict at this hearing would almost certainly have ended his 27-year police career.
Mr Rickards, who was found not guilty in two sex trials in the past two years, said his resignation meant all employment issues between him and the police were resolved.
But the police department won’t say whether he was given a golden handshake to hasten his departure.
Mrs Nicholas told the Herald last night that Mr Rickards’ resignation had come as a surprise.
“In a lot of ways, I’m pleased that it’s another chapter closed, but I am disappointed that the internal inquiry won’t be held. I feel that’s where the closure was going to come.”
Police would not say what the internal charges against Mr Rickards were, but at least one is believed to relate to claims that he had sex with a woman on the bonnet of a police car in the 1980s.
Other charges are believed to relate to his admission in court that he had sex with Mrs Nicholas, his claim that the investigation into police sex crimes that resulted in his facing charges was “a shambles”, and his support for convicted rapists and former police colleagues Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum.
Mrs Nicholas said she hoped Mr Rickards did not get a payout.
“I hope like hell that there has been no golden handshake, no extra payout.
“The guy’s entitled to his superannuation, which he’s paid into, but anything over and above that, after what he’s received over the last four years, I don’t think that’s right.”
Mr Rickards had been suspended on full pay of more than $150,000 a year since February 2004.
In September, he was given a new $50,000 Holden Commodore as part of his remuneration package.
Police spokesman Jon Neilson said the department could not comment on whether Mr Rickards had received a golden handshake.
Detective Superintendent Nick Perry, the head of Operation Austin which conducted the investigation that led to Mr Rickards’ court appearance, was not surprised at the news.
Speaking from London, where he is now New Zealand’s police liaison officer in Britain, Mr Perry said someone sent him an anonymous text yesterday morning telling him the news.
“I’m not really in a position to comment, it’s not appropriate. It’s up to people to draw their own conclusions about why he resigned and I’m sure they will.”
Mr Rickards, with Schollum and Shipton, was found not guilty in March last year of of raping and sexually abusing Mrs Nicholas in 1985 and 1986.
In March this year, the three were found not guilty of kidnapping and indecently assaulting a then 16-year-old girl, whose name is suppressed, in Rotorua more than 20 years ago.
In a statement, Mr Rickards’ lawyer, John Haigh, QC, said his client and the police believed that maintaining the public confidence in the force was of paramount importance.
“As long as this high-profile dispute is allowed to continue it will dominate the headlines and confidence will naturally come into question.”
The statement said Mr Rickards denied any wrongdoing, and considered disciplinary proceedings to be without foundation.
“He does, however, recognise the untenable position of him continuing in his role with New Zealand police, and in the interests of all parties has decided to resign.”
After his acquittal in March, Mr Rickards widened the rift between him and his superiors by attacking the Operation Austin investigation they ordered into police sex crimes after Mrs Nicholas went public with her allegations in 2004.
“It was an investigation I would have been ashamed to have led,” he said. “It was a shambles. And the police need to be held accountable.”
Mr Rickards also defended his jailed co-accused, Shipton and Schollum, saying, “They shouldn’t be where they are”.
A spokesman for Police Minister Annette King said “she is pleased there has been a resolution” but would not comment further.
Police Association president Greg O’Connor hoped the resignation would enable the police to move on from “the Rotorua incident”.
“I think most sensible thinking New Zealanders have seen it for what it is - an isolated incident from an era some time ago.”
- additional reporting: Claire Trevett, Alanah May Eriksen
Clint Rickards
* 1979 Joins police at 18
* 1997 Youngest district commander at 36
* 2006 Acquitted of raping Louise Nicholas
* March 2007 Acquitted of kidnapping and indecently assaulting 16-year-old girl
* November 2007 Resigns from the police
_____________________________
Clint Rickards resigns from police
23 November 2007
Controversial Assistant Commissioner Clint Rickards has resigned from the police, but the organisation is refusing to discuss whether he was given a golden handshake to hasten his retirement.
Mr Rickards, who was found not guilty in two sex trials in the past two years, was set to face internal disciplinary charges but said his resignation meant all employment issues between him and police were resolved.
Police national headquarters would not comment on how the standoff came to be resolved.
It confirmed only that Rickards had resigned and that the resignation had been accepted.
“The resignation is effective as of today,” police spokesman Rob Lee said.
“In keeping with employer-employee relationship requirements, the conditions under which NZ Police’s contract with Mr Rickards were met will remain confidential.”
Mr Rickards’ lawyer John Haigh would not comment when asked by NZPA if his client received a golden handshake.
In a statement released by Mr Haigh, Mr Rickards said both he and police believed that maintaining the confidence by the New Zealand public in the police was of paramount importance.
“As long as this high profile dispute is allowed to continue it will dominate the headlines and confidence will naturally come into question,” the statement said.
“Mr Rickards denies any wrongdoing and considers that any employment disciplinary proceedings are totally without foundation.
“He does however recognise the untenable position of him continuing in his role with New Zealand Police and in the interests of all parties has decided to resign.”
Mr Rickards, who has been with the police for 28 years, was suspended on full pay in February 2004 after being charged with sex offences relating to alleged incidents in Rotorua in the 1980s.
Mr Rickards, along with former police officers Bob Schollum and Brad Shipton, was found not guilty in March 2006 on charges of raping and sexually abusing Rotorua woman Louise Nicholas in 1985 and 1986.
In March this year the same trio were found not guilty of kidnapping and indecently assaulting a then 16-year-old girl, whose name is suppressed, in Rotorua more than 20 years ago.
It was revealed at the end of the second trial that Schollum and Shipton were already in jail after being found guilty of unrelated rape charges in Mt Maunganui.
Though cleared of the charges, questions were raised about Mr Rickards’ involvement in group sex sessions in Rotorua with Shipton, Schollum and Ms Nicholas in the 1980s while a serving officer.
He also faced criticism for saying Shipton and Schollum should not be in prison for the Mt Maunganui charges.
Police had declined to say what internal charges Mr Rickards was facing.
Mr Haigh said the conclusion of the second trial was a highly emotional time for Mr Rickards.
“Mr Rickards wants to advise the New Zealand public that he has the utmost faith in the New Zealand judicial system and the New Zealand police service,” he said.
“He also wishes to sincerely thank friends and those who have supported him and his family throughout this ordeal.”
Mr Haigh said the cost of the legal battles “is something that will take many years for him to recover from”. Pass me a Tui!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Pack rape victim wondered if seeking justice was worth it
1 November 2007
The victim in an infamous rape involving serving police officers today said she regretted coming forward when her case dragged on through the courts.
The woman was speaking at the sentencing of Rene Gaustad Mangnus and Paul Grayden Turney, who were given 12-month jail terms for attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Their convictions relate to a false affidavit backing appeals by Peter McNamara and Warren Hales, two of four men found guilty two years ago of abducting and raping the woman in Mt Maunganui in 1989.
McNamara and Hales’ co-accused were Bob Schollum and Brad Shipton, who were serving policemen at the time of the incident, and the four argued that sex was consensual.
The affidavit, instigated by Mangnus and sworn by Turney, supported a contention by Hales that the victim made romantic approaches to him at a concert in Tauranga a few days afterwards.
The affidavit was disregarded by the Court of Appeal.
Hales was granted a retrial, but changed his plea to guilty of abduction and police dropped the rape charge.
In the High Court at Auckland today, the woman, who was 20 at the time of the attack, choked back tears as she read out her victim impact report.
When Schollum, Shipton, McNamara and Hales were sentenced in 2005, she thought she could begin the process of “healing the gaping wound” that her life had become since the police investigation began the previous year.
She knew appeals were imminent, but she was reassured that the convictions were water tight.
“The media attention had thankfully died down and I was able to enjoy watching the news and reading the newspapers without being re-traumatised by images of the men who had viciously raped me in 1989,” she said.
“The three-month reprieve was short lived.”
She described 18 months it took for the charges against Mangnus and Turney to get to trial as “the most sad and difficult ones of my life”.
“After having done the right thing and told the truth in all my time involved in the investigation, I regretted ever coming forward,” she said.
“If I had known the journey needed to get justice would be so long and so cruel, I would never have started it and I imagine this is the reason many rape victims do not come forward.”
She said the personal toll included the breakdown of her 15-month marriage, severe post-traumatic stress and the “pathetic and embarrassing” need to seek financial help from friends because she had had to take time off work without pay.
Mangnus, 46, a company director, and Turney, 49, a British-based sound technician, were found guilty by a jury in September.
Justice Patricia Courtney, in sentencing, said it was fortunate the Court of Appeal had refused to accept the affidavit at face value.
Even if the affidavit had been successful, the result would have been a retrial during which the pair would have been cross-examined.
But Justice Courtney said she regarded the offence as a serious one and needed a custodial sentence.
She rejected the submission of the men’s lawyers, and the recommendation of the victim, that the pair should be allowed home detention.
Both Mangnus and Turney offered to pay reparation to the woman and Justice Courtney set a figure of $15,000 for each.
______________________________________________________
Dewar: ‘I will never admit guilt’
October 07, 2007
Jailed ex-cop John Dewar says he’ll never admit wrongdoing for the way he handled Louise Nicholas’ rape complaint.
The 55-year-old self-employed father-of-four was sentenced on Friday to four-and-a-half years’ jail after being found guilty in August on four charges of attempting to obstruct or defeat the course of justice. The maximum sentence faced was seven years for each of the charges.
Speaking exclusively to the Herald on Sunday just days before sentencing, Dewar confirmed he would appeal his conviction and sentence, on the basis the judge and jury “got it wrong” and he was “an innocent man going to jail”.
“I’ll never give up on this, and that is not through stubborness, but because of absolute, total innocence and knowing that I did a good job. There has never been a cover-up. It is not in my nature,” Dewar said.
“As long as there are processes and systems in place, I will pursue those. Whatever the justice system says, I will go to my grave knowing that I didn’t do any wrong.”
He was aware that could present difficulties when he came up for parole, as an admission of guilt is generally required before granting early release from prison. “That is something I will have to face at the time, but it will be an issue. I will never admit guilt.”
Dewar was chief inspector of the Rotorua CIB when Nicholas approached police in 1993, alleging she was sexually assaulted by police officers Clint Rickards, Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum.
The Crown alleged Dewar suppressed allegations Nicholas made against the three men and tried to pervert the course of justice during the rape trial of a former policeman, who has permanent name suppression, by giving inadmissible evidence.
Nicholas alleged the man had sexually assaulted her, then aged 13, which led to two mistrials before a third trial acquitted him. It was during those trials that allegations against Shipton, Schollum and Rickards first came to light.
In the High Court at Hamilton on Friday, Justice Rodney Hansen rejected the motive put forward by the defence - that Dewar was acting to protect Nicholas - and accepted the Crown’s argument he was covering up for Schollum, Shipton and Rickards.
Dewar had a “remarkable capacity for self-delusion and avoidance which may have explained his conduct”, he said.
But Dewar told the Herald on Sunday he believed he had acted in Nicholas’ best interests 14 years ago. At the time, he wasn’t convinced she was telling the truth about Rickards, Shipton and Schollum and was worried about what repercussions that could have on her if the matter went to trial.
“I came to the conclusion that the sexual acts with Rickards, Shipton and Schollum were consensual,” he said.
“Police knew Nicholas wasn’t a truthful person, but they accepted everything she has said. Rickards was absolutely right when he said he would have been embarrassed to have run this investigation. The resources that went into this by the state were unprecedented. I could never stand up against that might.”
Before Friday’s sentencing, Dewar filed a complaint of perjury and attempting to pervert the course of justice against Nicholas with Police Commissioner Howard Broad. Dewar wants a full police investigation into his claims with a view to proving there is sufficient evidence for police to mount a case against Nicholas.
He also claims his complaint will highlight alleged inconsistencies in Nicholas’ statements.
Nicholas maintains there is no substance to either the appeal or the perjury complaint.
Dewar believed if the complaint was handled independently and without interference from the Operation Austin team it would be upheld and Nicholas would eventually go to trial.
He described Nicholas as a “scorpion”, and said he was still upset by the way she had betrayed him when he tried to act in her best interests.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Future brighter for Louise Nicholas
25 October 2007
Louise Nicholas is happy and looking forward to the future.
An unremarkable statement for most New Zealand women who have supportive husbands and loving children. A big deal, however, for a woman who alleges she was raped and abused by a series of police officers in Murupara and Rotorua from the age of 13.
Last year Mrs Nicholas heard 20 not guilty verdicts read in a case in which she alleged she was raped by assistant commissioner Clint Rickards and former policemen Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum. Controversially, it was later revealed Shipton and Schollum were already serving time for a rape.
Vindication, when it eventually came for Mrs Nicholas, was not where she expected it. Mrs Nicholas had put her trust in the man who was then head of Rotorua’s CIB, John Dewar, who had guided her through the trials.
She considered him a friend. Then one day a Dominion Post journalist, Phil Kitchin, visited with compelling evidence that the man she had sought support and guidance from had not had her interests at heart.
Shocked but convinced by Mr Kitchin’s evidence, she took the unusual step of putting her name and face to the allegations. In our legal system victims of sexual abuse have the right to confidentiality.
“For the truth to get out I had to show myself,” she said.
“I was angry. I believed so much in Dewar, I thought he was my mate.”
Dewar has since been convicted in the High Court at Hamilton of covering up Mrs Nicholas’ original rape allegations against Shipton, Schollum and Mr Rickards. He is serving a four and a half year jail sentence.
From the beginning, Mrs Nicholas said she had been overwhelmed by the support from around New Zealand.
But she has had to keep many of the details of her story quiet to prevent prejudicing the trials.
Now it is all over, she can write freely.
She was at Book World in Blenheim on Tuesday to sign copies of her book, My Story, co-written by Phillip Kitchin.
“I’m absolutely stoked that it’s finally out there now and people can finally understand. For two and half years I’ve had to keep silent because of the court cases.”
She is now on a mission to improve conditions in the legal system for victims of sexual abuse. A priority is getting a legal support person appointed in such cases, someone who can explain the process in layman’s terms and be available to answer questions.
Mrs Nicholas also finds it galling that the victim has to take the stand and have their life dissected, while the accused “gets to hide behind their lawyer”.
Counselling and the kindness of police officers during the court cases have won back her respect for most police officers.
“It’s taken me all this time, but I’ve realised that not every person who wears that uniform is a bad person. The majority are good men and women.”
Since 2004, Mr Rickards has been suspended on full pay from his role as assistant police commissioner.
Mrs Nicholas said: “I’ve got a hell of a lot I could say about that but because it’s still under internal inquiry I’m better to keep quiet.”
Instead, she is moving on with husband Ross, three daughters and their new baby boy.
“I couldn’t ask for a better life at the moment,” she said.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Judge cuts Dewar’s jail time
5October 06, 2007
Rogue cop John Dewar has been given a discounted prison sentence after a judge accepted he would suffer “additional hardship” in prison as a former high-ranking officer.
Dewar was sentenced to 4 1/2 years prison by Justice Rodney Hansen in the High Court at Hamilton yesterday.
Justice Hansen said his cover-up of Louise Nicholas’ rape allegations against three officers struck at the heart of the administration of justice, and had damaged public confidence in the police and justice system.
But he said the “additional hardship in prison” was one reason for him reducing Dewar’s sentence from six years.
Dewar’s lawyer Paul Mabey, QC, had earlier asked that the judge take Dewar’s former occupation into account, as it would make prison life “more onerous”.
Retired Detective Chief Inspector Rex Miller, who conducted some of the early inquiries into Dewar’s behaviour and was in court to see him sentenced, said he was surprised it was taken into account.
“If you do the crime you should do the time. It doesn’t matter if you are from the backblocks, from high society, or if you did whatever as a job.”
A spokeswoman for Women’s Refuge said she hoped Dewar’s conviction and sentencing would help restore some faith that many women had lost in the justice system.
But she didn’t think Dewar should have been given a discounted sentence.
“It would be good to see the law applied evenly, regardless of whether somebody has been a police officer, a judge, a drain-layer or whatever.”
Sensible Sentencing Trust spokesman Garth McVicar said it was inappropriate for the judge to reduce the sentence.
“I don’t have any sympathy for Dewar at all. He had the opportunity to take the appropriate action and he chose not to.”
He described Dewar’s sentence as pathetic, and said he should have got a longer sentence because of the position of trust he had held.
“I thought maybe eight years would have been an appropriate sentence … I’m a huge fan of the police, but when they go wrong like this guy, we’ve got to smack them hard.”
Head Hunters gang leader Wayne Doyle, who served a life sentence in Paremoremo for murder, said a former police officer like Dewar would be kept separate from “mainstream” inmates and instead put “in the same place where they put [convicted sex offender] Bert Potter and guys like that”.
Dewar was given a $250,000-plus payout when he left the force in 1999 after 25 years, despite being investigated for over-claiming on travel expenses.
But in 2004, it emerged that he had been involved in covering up Mrs Nicholas’ allegations against Clint Rickards, Bob Schollum and Brad Shipton. The three were subsequently cleared of raping her.
Justice Hansen said the aggravating features of Dewar’s crime were overwhelming.
The offending had involved a “gross breach of trust”.
It had harmed the victim, Louise Nicholas, psychologically and financially, and had also damaged the reputation of several institutions.
Despite being found guilty on four counts of perverting the course of justice by a jury in August, Dewar asked Mr Mabey to tell the court he maintained his innocence.
Mr Mabey said. “He does not accept the verdicts of the jury. He says he is an innocent man, and does not wish to express any contrition.”
But despite his protestations of innocence, Dewar would take the judge’s sentence “like a man”.
Mr Mabey said his client had lost respect in society, together with his career and business. “It’s a matter of the bigger you are, the harder you fall.”
The judge also read from a pre-sentence report which said Dewar was considered a man whose vanity may have blinded his sense of reality.
Justice Hansen said Dewar was motivated by a desire to cover up the rape allegations against his former colleagues and friends.
Mrs Nicholas watched the sentencing from the court’s packed public gallery.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Men guilty of attempting to pervert justice in pack rape case
September 21, 2007
Two men will be sentenced in the High Court in Auckland next month after being convicted of attempting to pervert the course of justice in the Mt Maunganui police pack rape case.
Rene Gaustad Mangnus, 46, a company director, and Paul Grayden Turney, 49, a sound technician, conspired together to create a false affidavit in an appeal by fireman Warren Hales and businessman Peter McNamara against their rape convictions.
Hales and McNamara along with former policemen Bob Schollum and Brad Shipton were convicted in 2005 of raping a 20-year-old woman 16 years earlier.
The incident was described by Justice Ronald Young as “a pack rape in the worst sense”. LINK
________________________________________________________________________________________
August 11, 2007
A disgrace to the force, a disgrace to himself
John Dewar is facing up to seven years in jail for obstructing the course of justice.
Police gave rogue cop John Buchanan Dewar an estimated $250,000-plus payout when he left the force, despite his being dogged by allegations of wrongdoing.
Police have confirmed Dewar was under investigation for over-claiming on travel expenses when he “perfed” from the force in 1999 - a somewhat minor misdemeanour among a catalogue of manipulative acts in his 25-year career.
He was able to stay in the job despite suspicions of covering up Louise Nicholas’ rape allegations; aborting High Court trials; a botched investigation; an internal disciplinary finding over a sexist remark and a management style that divided the Rotorua police station.
Dewar got away with so much that other officers called him “Teflon”.
This week, something finally stuck. He was convicted in the High Court at Hamilton of covering up Mrs Nicholas’ original rape allegations against Brad Shipton, Bob Schollum and suspended assistant police commissioner Clint Rickards.
He faces seven years in jail for each of four charges of obstructing the course of justice in a case of police corruption that is without comparison in local history.
Police yesterday confirmed Dewar took “early retirement” under the Police Employment Rehabilitation Fund - a payout other officers estimated would be worth $250,000 to $350,000 given his years in the force.
Detective Inspector Dewar turned heads the minute he transferred from Auckland to Rotorua in 1987, driving to his new job in a cream-and-brown Rolls-Royce.
Almost everybody in the police had heard of the Roller, said to be a present from the parents of his first wife for rescuing her from the clutches of the Moonies religious sect in the United States.
Shipton, Schollum and Mr Rickards were all working at the station and had already been involved in a sexual relationship with Mrs Nicholas, then Louise Crawford.
Dewar was the station’s top detective and head of the armed offenders squad with a divide-and-rule management style. Shipton and he became close, allegedly having group sex with a Rotorua woman who has name suppression.
An early pointer to the Nicholas debacle was an unrelated case involving rape accusations against a police officer. Dewar charged the officer but his bungling of the case resulted in a substantial payout for the man and the possibility of the police being sued for malicious prosecution. Although the officer was cleared in court, he died soon afterwards - his widow attributing his death to the stress caused by Dewar. A police report into the matter savaged Dewar’s handling of the case.
Dewar met Mrs Nicholas in 1993 when she laid rape allegations against an officer who cannot be named. She also told him Shipton, Schollum and Mr Rickards had sexually assaulted her and had used a baton on her. However, he never acted properly on the claims, if at all.
He did investigate the unnamed officer - which the Crown described as the “sacrificial lamb” - then inexplicably aborted two trials by giving inadmissible hearsay evidence. The man was acquitted at a third trial.
The reason for covering up for his friends has never been explained but the Operation Austin team - set up in 2004 after Mrs Nicholas went public with her allegations - considered charging all four with conspiracy.
Crown Prosecutor Brent Stanaway told the jury in Dewar’s trial that he had covered it up “because Shipton had something over him”.
An internal disciplinary finding at Rotorua also found Dewar had insulted a detective constable, asking her, “Are you bonking one of the bosses or something?”
He was shifted to a desk job in Auckland, where the allegations of over-claiming on travel expenses surfaced.
After perfing in 1999, Dewar became human relations manager for the St John Ambulance Midland region (Waikato) - using a verbal reference from Mr Rickards, then Waikato police district commander.
He was divisive there too, with staff sending a letter to board members saying most were looking for work elsewhere, while others were being “hounded, harassed and victimised by Dewar”.
The organisation was “in grave danger of being exposed externally to the serious detriment of its reputation”. Those concerns blew up in spectacular fashion several months later when Mrs Nicholas went public with her allegations of pack rape and its cover-up by Dewar.
Dewar initially went on nine months’ special leave, on full pay of $100,000 a year, but his employment relationship soured on his return to work when St John placed restrictions on his role.
He lost a personal grievance case and had to pay the organisation almost $10,000 in costs.
Even with Mrs Nicholas’ allegations out in the open, Dewar continued to try to manipulate his way out of it, handing a Herald reporter a fake letter praising his handling of the case.
Operation Austin head Detective Superintendent Nick Perry said 75 per cent of the evidence used to convict Dewar was already there. It was uncovered in 1995, through an internal investigation by Detective Chief Inspector Rex Miller.
Mr Perry, a police veteran, had been on the former anti-terrorist group with Dewar and knew him by reputation as a competent investigator but was “astounded” at how he had acted in the Nicholas case. On a scale of police corruption, Mr Perry said it stood out on its own.
Police Commissioner Howard Broad said Dewar’s “unacceptable” conduct “drove right to the heart of police core values [of] integrity and professionalism”. Dewar’s enemies did not want to give their views on him publicly for fear of his vindictiveness. “He is quite simply an absolute bloody maniac,” said one former officer.
John Buchanan Dewar, rogue cop, is now a convicted criminal facing jail.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Guilty on all charges
5:00AM Thursday August 09, 2007
By Simon O’Rourke
Former Rotorua CIB chief John Dewar faces a lengthy prison term after a jury last night found him guilty of obstructing the course of justice.
A packed courtroom gallery was at the Hamilton High Court to hear the verdict, which was greeted with a howl of anguish from Dewar’s wife Louise.
Dewar, 55, a self-employed father of four, had denied four charges of attempting to obstruct or defeat the course of justice in his handling of historic sex allegations made by Louise Nicholas against police officers in the early 1990s.
The jury deliberated for more than 9 1/2 hours in reaching its decision, following 12 days of court sittings.
Before the verdict was read Justice Rodney Hansen asked for calm. “It is likely to generate strong feelings among some of you. I simply ask that you show a degree of restraint appropriate to the occasion, at least until the formal business of the court has been completed.”
Each charge carries a maximum sentence of seven years’ imprisonment. Justice Hansen remanded Dewar on bail before his sentencing on September 26.
Dewar accepted his fate calmly and walked from the dock, quickly glancing toward his family and friends.
The judge thanked the jury for what had been an “arduous” task involving the absorption of a lot of information in the full glare of publicity.
Outside court, Mrs Nicholas read from a prepared statement, her hands trembling and voice quivering.
“My family and I have been through a great deal over the past few years, but more so in the last couple of weeks. But because of the love and support of my family and friends and a lot of New Zealanders, today’s outcome has brought some relief.
“I would like to thank Operation Austin. These are decent police officers who have toiled, away from their families, for more than three years. They have done their duty and they have restored the faith and trust that I had lost a long time ago in New Zealand police.
“To the public of New Zealand, it has been your unbelievable support that has kept me and my family able to keep going when there were times I felt like giving up. To my husband Ross, my daughters and my newborn son, you have been the rock that any family needs.
“With the right will there can be changes to the way we treat the victims of sexual offenders so that others don’t face the same fate that I and others have faced. Thank you New Zealand.”
Mrs Nicholas told the Herald that she did not know if the end of the trial had brought closure for her. “I don’t know, I will speak about that tomorrow, it’s still sinking in.”
Her husband Ross said there was a bottle of champagne on ice, and a friend added that “there are a few bottles on ice and they’ve been on ice a very long time.”
While waiting on the verdict yesterday, a contingent of about 20 of Dewar’s supporters chatted among themselves in the court foyer, while the Louise Nicholas camp remained outdoors and liaised with members of the Operation Austin team.
A friend of Dewar’s said his family and friends had remained upbeat throughout the trial.
He was convinced the woman who gave evidence during the trial that Dewar was involved with group sex was incorrect in identifying his friend.
But he said the revelation - which alleged Shipton was also involved - would have been another blow for the parents of Shipton, who had attended the trial on the day the woman’s evidence was given.
Among those waiting yesterday was the woman, who has permanent name suppression. Beside claiming to be in a group-sex liaison with Dewar and Shipton, she told the jury she had sex with Dewar on another occasion, in late 1987 or early 1988.
Dewar’s friend said he had been a Senior Sergeant in Rotorua throughout the 1980s, and the city police station had been a great place to work, with close camaraderie. The detectives and uniform staff had worked hard and played hard.
Earlier Justice Hansen told the jury the case was not about what Mr Rickards, Shipton and Schollum did or might have done.
“It is not about whether Louise Nicholas was sexually abused or violated by them or anyone else.
“It is about what John Dewar did after he took over the investigation.”
A police spokeswoman said last night that police would not be commenting because there was still sentencing and possible appeal periods to come.
National Party police spokesman Chester Borrows said he did not normally comment on verdicts but was pleased for Mrs Nicholas.
“I’m pleased for the complainant, that she will take some confidence out of the judicial system in respect of the verdict. It just underlies the responsibility on all police managers to take seriously complaints that are made to them in respect of any offences and that protocols and processes are there to be followed.”
Auckland Rape Crisis director Dr Kim McGregor described the guilty verdicts as great news for Mrs Nicholas and other rape survivors: “It has the potential to restore their faith in the justice system.”
She said Mrs Nicholas had been “so brave” in her pursuit for justice.
“She has been so brave and has been a leading light for a number of rape survivors. She has been so courageous in putting her rape complaint forward.”
—————————
At last, Louise Nicholas gets a guilty verdict - four of them
9 August 2007
tFive times now, Louise Nicholas has wanted one word from a jury. Last night she heard it: Guilty.
And though the man convicted, former inspector John Buchanan Dewar, was not one of four men she has accused of raping her, she felt she had seen justice done at last.
For Mrs Nicholas it all began in the tiny timber town of Murupara with a policeman she accused of raping her when she was 13. That man has permanent name suppression.
Contrary to widespread public perception, she did complain way back then. But she was told by another local policeman – a mate of the man she accused of raping her – she was wasting her time.
She was told no one would believe a schoolgirl’s word ahead of a policeman’s. Her mother, to her lasting regret, told her daughter the same thing. Like Mrs Nicholas, she feared her husband would try to kill the man she had accused of rape.
When the family moved to Rotorua and Mrs Nicholas was still a teenager, she came to the attention of now convicted pack rapist and then detective sergeant Brad Shipton. Shipton was mates with now suspended assistant commissioner Clint Rickards, and former police sergeant and now convicted pack rapist Bob Schollum.
The men preyed on her for sex. She escaped their attention when she met and married her husband Ross. They lived an ordinary life, raising children and working hard.
But Mrs Nicholas was still shackled by her demons. When her family became alarmed that she had become withdrawn and had lost weight, she told them she had not only been raped by the former Murupara policeman, but also by Shipton, Schollum and Rickards. She said they had used a baton on her.
Mrs Nicholas told a Rotorua policeman but his notebook recording the allegations disappeared.
She went to tell a Rotorua policewoman but that detective got pulled off the case by the head of the Rotorua CIB, John Dewar.
Dewar was the first policeman she felt she could trust; the first she felt was actually helping her. He told her he was going to go after the Murupara policeman because she was underage at the time she alleged he had raped her. What Dewar did not tell her was that he was a mate of Shipton and Mr Rickards.
Dewar put Mrs Nicholas off making a formal complaint against Schollum, Shipton and Mr Rickards, but he arrested the Murupara policeman, who by then had left the police.
The case went to court but Dewar deliberately wrecked the trial by giving hearsay evidence. At the second trial, he again gave inadmissible evidence. That trial too, was aborted.
At the third trial, Dewar persuaded the prosecutor to call Mr Rickards, Shipton and Schollum as crown witnesses. She had told the court they raped her. They said they had sex – it was consensual and sometimes it was group sex – but they never used a baton on her.
Two hours later the jury came back with a not guilty verdict.
Mrs Nicholas went home. She still thought the world of Dewar and thought he had tried to win the case.
He had said that he wrecked the first two trials to get things back on an even keel. She did not understand the legal intricacies of hearsay evidence and aborted trials.
But some police were uneasy with the way Dewar had run the trials. Top policeman Rex Miller was brought in for a secret internal inquiry. Mr Miller’s inquiry ruled that Dewar had failed to investigate properly allegations against Shipton, Schollum and Mr Rickards and had deliberat
Jack | June 10th, 2005 at 7:07 pm
