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The Christchurch Civic
Creche Case |
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Peter Ellis has attacked the
Government over its response to his latest bid for an inquiry into the
Christchurch Civic Creche abuse case. Ellis has slammed the
"appalling" written reply from Associate Justice Minister Rick
Barker, who rejected the call for a royal commission of inquiry into the
infamous child abuse case in 1993, despite new information being presented. Ellis served two-thirds of a
10-year jail sentence for molesting children at the creche. His hopes to clear his name now
rest with a costly bid to go to the Privy Council, and follow in the footsteps
of David Bain, whose murder convictions were quashed. Mr Barker said in a letter to a
researcher working on the Ellis case that a commission could not be convened
to determine the guilt or innocence of an individual as its primary purpose. "If Mr Ellis wishes to pursue
the question of whether a miscarriage of justice has occurred, the avenue of
appeal to the Privy Council remains open," Mr Barker wrote. In a rare public outburst, Ellis
told the Herald the letter from Mr Barker was something "a year one law
student wouldn't manufacture ... let alone an MP". "It is appalling. He is given
new stuff to look at ... and he was asked new questions and his letter is
actually just the same stuff all rehashed together. "He's just trotted out the
Justice Ministry's mantra. I believe he's just handed the [bid] off to a
minion." The latest bid for an inquiry was
based on alleged flaws in Ellis's trial, the failure of the Appeal Court to
address expert opinion evidence, and an academic's recent findings on the interviewing
of children at the creche. Ellis's lawyer, Judith Ablett
Kerr, QC, was disappointed the inquiry bid had been "brushed aside in
such a superficial way". She doubted whether all of the
information put forward had even been read by Mr Barker and his officials. "Most New Zealanders aware of
the case, including many well-informed members of society in positions of
importance, have deep-seated concerns about the case." Mrs Ablett Kerr, who has largely
shouldered the heavy cost of the legal process for Ellis herself, said she
hoped to get a petition to the Privy Council by May, and a hearing by the end
of the year. A spokesman for Mr Barker said the
letter sent to the Ellis camp was private correspondence, but simply
reflected the same position held since 2005. |
