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The
Christchurch Civic Creche Case |
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Convicted child
abuser Peter Ellis was to meet his lawyer today to discuss the possibility of
bail after his case was referred yesterday back to the Court of Appeal. Justice
Minister Doug Graham announced yesterday that Governor-General Sir Michael
Hardie Boys had referred Ellis' convictions to the His bid for a
free pardon had been rejected, the Minister said. Ellis, 40 on
Monday, has been in prison for four years and nine months after being
sentenced to 10 years jail for abusing children at the His lawyer,
Dunedin-based Judith Ablett-Kerr, QC, said yesterday she and Ellis were
"over the moon". She would
discuss with Ellis the possibility of bail when she met him at Paparua
Prison, She said she
hoped it would not be long before the case was reheard. She said there
had been fewer than 10 cases in "This is
huge," she said. She hoped the
appeal would be heard around June, maybe in "I was
particularly pleased for Peter that he would now have the opportunity to clear
his name in open court." It was
important that people understood the criminal justice system had to be
transparent, she said. "Constitutionally,
the referral back to the Court of Appeal is something that's desirable from
the point of view of letting everyone know what's happening." She said if
Ellis had been pardoned, no one would have known why. "That's
the attraction of going back to the Court of Appeal." His mother,
Lesley Ellis, said she, too, preferred the option of going back to court to
prove her son's innocence. "A pardon
implies guilt. You don't get pardoned for doing nothing." Mrs Ellis, who
was also to visit him this afternoon, said she wanted it acknowledged that
her son was not guilty. "Judith Ablett-Kerr will be going to have a talk
with him and present the implications of the decision, and he'll be making
some decisions after that," she said. Police have
been holding an inquiry into investigations that led to Ellis' conviction,
including into the conduct of the officer in charge of the investigation,
Colin Eade. Mr Eade was
alleged by TV3 television programme 20/20 to have had psychiatric problems,
and sexual relationships with the mothers of two children who complained they
were abused by Ellis. Mr Eade has said that at no time during the inquiry was he involved in
a relationship with anyone associated with the case. |
