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The
Christchurch Civic Creche Case |
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"We'll get him out
one way or the other," the mother of Peter Ellis said outside the High
Court at Christchurch yesterday after the sentencing of her son to 10 years'
jail. Lesley Ellis said her
son was innocent of the 16 charges he had been convicted and sentenced on,
and she would continue fighting to prove it. Mrs Ellis said she last
spoke to Ellis last Friday when he told her he "would maintain his
innocence until the day he died." The public gallery in
High Court number one was full for the sentencing, with many people using
upstairs viewing area.
Mr Justice Williamson's
sentence was greeted with silence, with Ellis standing impassively in the
dock holding his hands in front of himself. Mrs Ellis later said
she expected a sentence in the 10-year range, given there were 16 charges on
which guilty verdicts had been returned. One of Ellis's former
co-workers at the Christchurch Civic Crèche, Gaye Davidson, said Ellis was
convicted on the same evidence that had been used against her and her three
former colleagues, all of whom were discharged. "We are still all
fighting to clear our names - we are innocent, and I have yet to see anything
that makes me think Peter is guilty of anything," Ms Davidson said. The severity of the
sentence did not surprise her, she said. "But for Peter it
will be a death sentence if he goes to jail." |
