|
The National
Business Review
May 3, 2002
New findings in controversial Ellis case
by Deborah Hill Cone
The emotive Peter Ellis case is set to re-ignite, with a new poll out
today showing most people think the convicted child abuser is innocent, ahead
of new legal proceedings to be filed.
The National Business Review-Compaq poll found 51% of people now believe
Ellis was not guilty of sexual abuse at the Christchurch crèche.
That was double the 25% who thought he was guilty, or 24% who were unsure or
refused to answer.
Mr Ellis' lawyer Judith Ablett-Kerr QC revealed to NBR this week that she was
preparing to take the Ellis case to the Privy Council "before it
disappears."
She said she expected to take action within a month, with the first step the
filing of a petition to seek special leave from the London law lords to proceed with an appeal.
Ms Ablett-Kerr said the challenge centred on points of law related to the
Court of Appeal's decision not to revisit the whole case.
She was not surprised by the NBR-Compaq poll findings.
"It is entirely consistent with the feedback one gets ... I get a
constant inflow of written support," Ms Ablett-Kerr said.
No poll of this kind has been undertaken about the Ellis case before.
- Poll details - page 16
|
