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Allegations of Abuse
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A witness in the trial of a former
Northland policeman charged with raping a woman in the 1980s, said the
accused asked her to have sex with him in the police station about an hour
before an alleged rape with another woman took place. The witness, whose name is
suppressed, was 20 years old at the time and socialising at a Northland hotel
in March 1988 when the accused gave her a lift home. In Auckland District Court today
the woman described a frightening drive home along a notorious stretch of
road, with the "very intoxicated" accused at the wheel. She said he drove to the police
station "to pick something up" and she remembers feeling irritated
because she just wanted to get home. After a long wait for him in the
car while he went inside, the woman said she grew worried about him and went
to look for him, finding him coming out of an office. "He made a pass at me, tried
to kiss me and said 'we should do something before we go home'," she
said. "I just laughed it off, and I
was a little embarrassed for him because he played rugby with my
boyfriend." The woman said she wasn't
attracted to him and also knew he was married with children and she convinced
him to take her straight home. The accused then went back to the
hotel and about an hour later, about 2am, the complainant said she was giving
him a lift home when he said he needed to pick something up from the police
station. She told the court she had felt
"apprehensive" about driving the drunk officer home, but discussed
it with her friend at the time and they agreed "if you can't trust a
policeman, who can you trust?" The complainant alleged the
accused handcuffed and forced her into the station, where she said he raped
her over a desk and then on the floor. The accused denies the claims and
said the sex was consensual. He faces eight charges, including
four of sexual violation by rape. She said she attempted to bring a
prosecution against the officer, but he was never formally charged at the
time. Northland CIB said there was
insufficient evidence against the accused and this view was supported by the
then Acting Commissioner of Police. After news of the police
investigation members of the small Northland community printed 300 copies of
a poster "defaming" the complainant's rape claims. The poster was handed today to the
woman today in court as an exhibit, and read: "(The complainant) seduces
boys then cries rape. Mothers beware. Do this town a favour and publish this
pamphlet." The woman said she made a formal
complaint about the posters. Just after the complainant gave
her first statement to police, the accused moved himself and his young family
overseas. The trial was expected to last
five days. |
