The Dominion
July 24 2001

Creche inquiry cost less than Goff budgeted
by David McLoughlin

The ministerial inquiry into aspects of the Christchurch Civic Creche case cost less than a third of the $500,000 that Justice Minister Phil Goff stated when he made its report public in March.

Mr Goff revealed under the Official Information Act that the cost was $148,879.

Former creche worker Peter Ellis, who says he is innocent of charges that he sexually abused creche children, accused Mr Goff yesterday of besmirching him by making the $500,000 claim.

The inquiry, chaired by former chief justice Sir Thomas Eichelbaum, looked at the evidence of six of the creche children and concluded that there was no miscarriage of justice when a jury in 1993 found Mr Ellis guilty of 16 charges of abuse. He was jailed for 10 years and freed in February last year.

"If we are looking at a figure of $148,000, why say it was $500,000?" Mr Ellis said.

"It looks like he was besmirching me by saying how much I had cost the taxpayer for an inquiry that just repeated I was guilty."

Mr Goff said the $500,000 figure was the amount budgeted for the inquiry, which cost less than expected. He ordered the inquiry because of concerns that evidence of creche children was so tainted by parental interrogation that Mr Ellis did not get a fair trial.

A 1999 report on the case by former High Court judge Sir Thomas Thorp looked at much the same evidence as the Eichelbaum inquiry but concluded there was "serious doubt about the safety of (Mr Ellis's) convictions". The Government kept the Thorp report secret till it was revealed by The Dominion soon after the Eichelbaum report was published.

Mr Ellis said yesterday that his biggest problem proving his innocence was the lack of injuries or other physical evidence to back the claims that he had raped and sodomised children and urinated and defecated on them. "At least David Dougherty (awarded $869,000 for being wrongly imprisoned for rape) had dna."

A cost breakdown of the Eichelbaum inquiry shows Sir Thomas was paid $40,612. A Canadian psychologist and English university lecture who both reviewed evidence got $26,053 and $18,091, respectively.

Some creche families who maintained Mr Ellis was guilty got $24,002 toward legal costs, with $15,064 for "facilitating legal representation between creche families and their lawyer", a total of $39,066.

Mr Ellis's lawyer, Judith Ablett-Kerr, QC, was paid $20,117. Administration costs and disbursements were $4939.

The cost of legal services for the creche families seems to contradict a statement Mr Goff made last year, when he agreed to fund Kristy McDonald, QC, to help them make submissions. He said he would fund the legal expenses of the families and Mr Ellis to a maximum of $20,000 apiece.