Allegations of Abuse
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Other
"relevant" cases will form part of the commission of inquiry into the
handling of police pack-rape allegations, says Prime Minister Helen Clark. But
a spokesman said the commission, announced on Tuesday, would not be a forum
for just any grievance against the police. The
inquiry's scope was questioned yesterday as more cases emerged involving
police failure to properly investigate allegations against their own. Helen
Clark announced the powerful commission of inquiry after claims Rotorua woman
Louise Nicholas was pack-raped by three police officers at a Rotorua police house
in 1986 when she was 18. One
of the trio, Auckland city district head Assistant Commissioner Clint
Rickards, was stood down on full pay by Commissioner Rob Robinson on Tuesday
as a criminal probe was reopened. Mrs
Nicholas alleges Mr Rickards and two former officers, Tauranga district
councillor Brad Shipton and Napier used-car salesman Bob Schollum, pack-raped
her and used a police baton to violate her. The trio strenuously deny the
claims. Since
her claims surfaced the Herald has become aware of four cases in the central And
yesterday, in a fifth case, Judith Garrett told the Herald she was raped by a
police officer in Kaitaia in 1988 but the officer was never charged. A
spokesman for Helen Clark confirmed a letter had been received from Ms
Garrett and the case had been referred to the Crown Law Office to be taken
into consideration in the inquiry's terms of reference. The
spokesman said the Prime Minister did not intend that the commission would be
a platform for every "loose complaint", but it would deal with
similar cases. "If
there are substantive complaints ... If there are what you might term related
cases, they will need to be taken into consideration in writing the terms of
reference." The
spokesman said that meant the inquiry would cover similar cases where police
were accused of serious crimes but there had been an apparent failure to
properly investigate. "But
it doesn't mean to say that every real or imagined grievance out there is
going to be on the agenda, because it won't," the spokesman said. "It
would have to be similar to the ones we are dealing with now." Mr
Cook is considering whether the 38-year-old woman, whose name has been
suppressed, can sue for exemplary damages. She got a formal apology in 2000
from Mr Robinson. The
Government is also yet to name the inquiry head, likely to be a retired High
Court judge. The Prime Minister has indicated the inquiry is likely to take
to the end of the year. Helen
Clark told radio yesterday that police needed to be able to trust each other,
but the serious allegation made in Mrs Nicholas' case was that during an
investigation the course of justice was perverted because of a cover-up by
one senior officer for others. "Now
no one would think that trust in each other should go to that extent,"
she said. "I'm
not predetermining the truth or otherwise of these allegations. I'm simply
saying that is the seriousness of the allegation and that strikes at the
heart of the integrity of policing." Police
Association president Greg O'Connor and constitutional law expert Mai Chen
yesterday supported the commission's brief being wide enough to consider
other relevant cases, but warned against it being too wide. Ms
Chen said if there were other similar cases it made sense to consider them,
but the more cases, the longer the inquiry would take. "If
part of the terms of reference is about systemic failure, it is difficult not
to look at other instances," she said. "If
there are other instances which are closely analogous which might also cast
light on whether or not you have a systemic failure, it would be difficult to
exclude those." Ms
Chen warned of the danger of an inquiry being held at the same time the
criminal case was being heard. The
yet-to-be-written terms of reference would not determine criminal wrongdoing,
but she said care was needed to ensure the inquiry's conduct and findings
were not prejudicial to the right of the defendants to a fair trial. Mr
O'Connor said care was needed so the inquiry didn't just become a forum for
every person with a beef against the police. Mr
O'Connor warned that the inquiry risked going off "in all sorts of
directions" unless the commission had a strong head. "This
should be about one thing: improving policing and addressing issues which
need to be addressed."
Will
look at issues of process used by the police and Police Complaints Authority
in investigating the pack-rape claims, as well as the culture of the police. Will
not study criminal wrongdoing as that will be determined by a separate
top-level police investigation. Terms
of reference for the commission of inquiry will take several weeks to write. The
commission is one tier down from a royal commission. It has the powers of a
court, including the ability to subpoena witnesses. The
last commission of inquiry was into the police's Incis computer system. |
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