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Convicted paedophile
Peter Ellis was reportedly distraught yesterday after news that a Court of
Appeal judicial conference had met in chambers to consider a postponement of
his appeal hearing. The Court of Appeal confirmed the
meeting had been held. A decision was expected "within the next few
days". The Crown Law Office, understood
to be seeking the postponement to have more time to prepare for the widened
terms of Ellis's appeal, set down for May 31, declined to comment. Ellis's mother, Lesley, said he
was "keyed up and quite upset" at what he believed would probably
result in a delayed appeal hearing. If the hearing was postponed it could be
by a couple of months because it was hard to get the necessary big gap in the
court timetable. The scope of Ellis's appeal
hearing was widened last week by Governor-General Sir Michael Hardie Boys on advice from retired High Court judge Sir
Thomas Thorp. Ellis, convicted in 1993 on 13
child-abuse charges, is, if the appeal fails, due to leave prison next
February when he has served two-thirds of a 10-year sentence. |
