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The
Christchurch Civic Creche Case |
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The final chapter in
the Christchurch Civic Childcare Centre case could be played out in the Privy
Council. Judith Ablett-Kerr, QC,
the lawyer for convicted paedophile Peter Ellis, yesterday confirmed she was
pressing ahead with an appeal to the Privy Council over his 1993 convictions
for abusing children. The Ellis petition
might be the last appeal the Privy Council hears from New Zealand. Ablett-Kerr said she
would apply for special leave to appeal to the Privy Council immediately,
despite having had no response from the Attorney-General on whether such an
appeal should proceed. The justice and electoral
select committee recommended last August that the Attorney-General not oppose
a bid by Ellis, who was convicted of sexually abusing children at the civic
creche where he worked. He served two-thirds of
a 10-year jail sentence, but has always maintained his innocence. Ablett-Kerr said last
September that it appeared the Solicitor-General intended to ignore the
committee's recommendations. She said it was the
Solicitor-General's role to advise the Attorney-General whether a case should
proceed. Yesterday, she
acknowledged there had been "a lot of to-ing and fro-ing" between
her and the Solicitor-General and the Attorney-General. "But rather than
delay matters any further, the decision has been taken to draft his petition
and file it in London and get on with it," she said. "We'll deal
with the issue of whether the Solicitor-General wishes to follow the
recommendation of the select committee at a later stage." Meanwhile, the author
of a book on the Civic Centre case, Lynley Hood, has raised concerns about
the role of new Police Commissioner Howard Broad in the case. Broad, whose
appointment was announced this week, was a detective inspector in
Christchurch at the time and involved in the investigation. "With Howard
Broad's appointment as the country's top police officer, there is a real risk
that ongoing damage caused to the fabric of New Zealand society by sex-abuse
hysteria and false allegations will continue unabated," Hood said. Broad could not be
reached last night. |
