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Allegations of Abuse
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The woman who accused an officer
of raping her in the Kaitaia police station in 1988 says she never wanted the
case reopened and believes it went ahead only because of political pressure
from Prime Minister Helen Clark. Former Kaitaia constable Tim Ogle
was acquitted of rape in the Auckland District Court this week, but the
woman, who has name suppression, told the Weekend Herald she never wanted the
court case in the first place. Her original complaint was
investigated and dismissed in 1988 with the file reviewed by the acting
commissioner. She also failed in an attempt to sue for damages in a civil
case in 1994. When the Louise Nicholas rape
claims broke in February 2004 the woman wrote to Helen Clark with her
accusations and called for a public inquiry into police culture. The Prime Minister said at the
time the woman's case "made her hair stand on end" and was the
"final straw" that led to the Government setting up a commission of
inquiry. The woman, who is in her 60s, said
once the commission was set up, she would have been happy with telling her
story to it, rather than facing the trauma of a court case. There was no new evidence and she
did not make a new formal complaint. She was then visited by three
senior police officers in March 2004 who told her they would be
investigating. Charges were laid that year. "We fought it right from the
start. The last thing I wanted was a rape trial. I knew it would fail, the
standard of proof is too high. I could have had my concerns and experience
listened to perfectly well by the commission. "I am not a vindictive cow
who waited for 16 years and then popped him again." The woman said she had gone to
court in the interests of seeing justice served but agreed with Mr Ogle's
lawyer, Gary Gotlieb, that the case was only reopened because of the
political pressure on the police following Helen Clark's "hairs on
end" statement. "I would like to speak to
Helen Clark about what she put me through. I'm pretty old to be on the stand
describing acts of sexual violation." A criminal investigation of her
allegations had been a "clever move" because it meant the matters
were before the court and could not be raised at the commission of inquiry. The commission was eventually put
on hold while criminal proceedings in her case and others went through the
court system. Mr Ogle admitted having sex with
the woman but said it was consensual. A jury took just under five hours to
clear him. A spokesman for the Prime Minister
said she had referred the woman's letter to the Crown Law Office at the time
and left the matter there. A police spokeswoman said when the
woman came forward a review was conducted by Detective Superintendent Malcolm
Burgess, who recommended further investigation. There was no direction from
the Prime Minister's Office. The woman was fully consulted but it was
ultimately a police decision to prosecute. |
