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http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0801/S00216.htm United Future leader Peter Dunne
is backing a request from Judith Ablett-Kerr, the lawyer of Peter Ellis, to
hold a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the 1993 child-molestation case. “There is a serious risk that a
grave injustice has been done to Mr Ellis and there is enough doubt over the
investigation and conviction, that a Royal Commission to examine his case is
appropriate and necessary,” says Mr Dunne. “There has been a widely held view
for a long time that this case was poorly managed and a perception that Ellis
may have been the victim of an over-zealous investigation.” One of the preschoolers has since
retracted the allegations, three of Ellis’ convictions have since been
quashed, and new academic research last year has cast further doubts on the
methodology used to question very young children. “A Royal Commission would have the
authority and credibility to resolve this matter once and for all. “This case is in danger of being
forgotten now that Mr Ellis has been released - but nevertheless he deserves
the chance to clear his name, if indeed he has been wrongly convicted,” says
Mr Dunne. |
