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The Christchurch Civic
Creche Case |
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Convicted child abuser Peter Ellis
is tired after trying to clear his name for 15 years but his lawyer has been
watching David Bain's case before the Privy Council with great interest. Judith Ablett Kerr said Bain's
London appeal could give an important insight into how she might go about the
appeal on Mr Ellis' behalf, which she now hopes will go before the council
for an initial hearing by July. The council retired yesterday to
consider the appeal by Bain's legal counsel against his conviction for
murdering five members of his family in Dunedin in 1995. "I am obviously following the
Bain case with great interest and will be interested in analysing the result
to see where it is the Law Lords are coming from and what are the factors
that are relevant to them when they are reviewing a New Zealand
decision," Mrs Ablett Kerr said. "This is a bench we rarely
see in operation and their perceptions of justice and the safety of verdicts
is really quite important, and it may not be the same perception as we have
in New Zealand." Mr Ellis said yesterday: "I'm
tired. It has been 15 years of justice denied." He was convicted of sexually
abusing children at the Christchurch Civic Childcare Centre, where he worked.
He was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment, and is now free and continuing to
proclaim his innocence. Mrs Ablett Kerr said she would
soon file to go before the council for a "first stage" hearing. In this hearing, the council
considers whether there is a case to go to a full hearing. The process was a
long, complicated and expensive one. Mrs Ablett Kerr said she and her
"little team" worked on the case when they could. |
