|
|
The Christchurch Civic
Creche Case |
|
|
|
|
David Bain and Peter Ellis were
convicted by the same judge - and further doubts have been raised over his
rulings to omit evidence from their high-profile trials. The late Justice Neil Williamson,
who famously uttered: "Well, who did it? David Bain or Robin Bain?", refused to let Dean Cottle
testify at Bain's trial because he deemed him an unreliable witness. Cottle became a key strand in campaigner Joe Karam's case to show that his father Robin Bain allegedly
had motive to commit the murders, because Cottle
claimed to have knowledge that Robin Bain was in a sexual relationship with
daughter Laniet. Justice Williamson's decision to
not admit evidence by Cottle formed the basis of
Bain's unsuccessful appeal to the High Court in 1995. However, the Law Lords' decision
to quash Bain's convictions specifically pointed out Justice Williamson's
omission of crucial evidence as a miscarriage of justice. Now, the lawyer for convicted
paedophile Peter Ellis is planning to file a petition to the Privy Council. Ellis served seven years of a
10-year sentence for his conviction of molesting children at the Christchurch
Civic Creche in 1993. Ellis' lawyer, Judith Ablett-Kerr QC said that although
the Ellis and Bain cases were different, in both cases the jury did not have
the full information |
