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The Christchurch
Civic Creche Case |
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Stress over a bid to quash
child abuse convictions is likely to have contributed to convicted paedophile
Peter Ellis' heart attack, his mother says. But Christchurch
Central MP Tim Barnett, who heads the select committee looking into the Civic
Creche case, has defended the 21 months so far taken to consider the call for
an inquiry. Chest pain and sweats
struck Ellis, 47, while he was reading at home in North Canterbury on
Thursday night. He was taken by
ambulance to Christchurch Hospital, where he remained seriously ill last
night in the coronary care unit. Lesley Ellis was
startled when her son knocked on her bedroom door and said, "Mum, I'm
having a heart attack." He "flopped back
on his bed and didn't move" as he waited for help. Mrs Ellis said it had
been a draining week for her son, with the loss of staunch supporters Gordon
and Mollie Seatter, who died naturally within a few days of each other. He
attended their funeral service on Thursday. Mrs Ellis believed
politicians added to her son's already serious health problems by drawing out
the decision on a commission of inquiry. A petition calling for
a top-level look at the creche case has been with the Justice and Electoral
Select Committee for 21 months. Its chairman, Mr Barnett, said yesterday that
he understood the family's frustration, but a report on the petition had
required considerably more work than usual. "We want a good, quality
report and if it takes time, it takes time." He said the report
might be finished by the end of July. Cardiac problems
feature in Ellis' family. Both his grandfathers died of heart attacks in
their 40s. In 1993 the creche
staffer was found guilty of abusing seven children in his care (one
complainant later said she had lied, and the relevant convictions were
quashed). Ellis served two-thirds
of a 10-year jail sentence and was released in 2000. |
