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Accusations of Abuse in Institutions

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NZ Herald
January 21, 2004

Extradited sex-charge priest granted bail
NZPA

A former Wellington Catholic priest extradited from Britain on child-sex charges was released on bail when he appeared in the Upper Hutt District Court yesterday.

Alan Woodcock faces 34 charges involving 11 boys dating back more than 20 years.

Judge Jill Moss remanded him on bail to reappear for a pre-depositions hearing on February 4. He was not asked to enter a plea.

The 55-year-old was escorted back to New Zealand on Saturday and held in police cells until yesterday morning.

He lived in Britain from the late 1980s until a High Court decision issued from London in November ruled he must return to New Zealand to face trial.

Woodcock faces charges of indecently assaulting boys at Silverstream, Upper Hutt and Palmerston North between 1982 and 1985 while working as a teacher.

Judge Moss said she had no reason not to grant bail.

Woodcock had been on bail in Britain for more than a year, where there was "no cause for concern".

She suppressed the terms of bail, to emphasise that despite the severity of the charges, Woodcock was entitled to privacy, protection and the presumption of innocence until proven otherwise.