Otago Daily Times
Febuary 2, 2004
Policeman denies rape case cover-up
Rotorua woman Louise Nicholas has claimed three officers - including
Louise Nicholas, who was 18 at the time, alleges her original complaint in 1993
was not properly investigated.
In an article published in The Dominion Post on Saturday, Mrs Nicholas alleged
Mr Rickards, along with two men who have since left the police force - Tauranga
city councillor Brad Shipton and Napier car dealer Bob Schollum - raped her in
the presence of a fourth man.
All three accused vigorously deny the accusations. Mr Rickards, who has taken
three weeks of voluntary leave, has welcomed news of a new inquiry and pledged
to co-operate fully with it.
In an earlier investigation, the men admitted having sex with the teenager but
claimed it was "consensual".
Mrs Nicholas said she was too frightened to go to the police with her complaint
for seven years and now she believes the subsequent investigation was flawed.
She said she was "played like a puppet" by Detective Inspector John
Dewar, head of Rotorua CIB at the time, who was supposed to be investigating
her complaint.
An inquiry by the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) two years later was
allegedly compromised because she still believed the investigating officer was
her "friend" and she concealed the whole truth to protect him.
Footage taken by a hidden camera and broadcast on One News on Saturday night
showed Mr Dewar admitting to Mrs Nicholas that he knew at least some of the
physical contact between her and the three men was without her consent.
Mr Dewar, who now works with the
He said he welcomed the new investigation and would co-operate fully.
"There was no coaxing, no persuasion. She [Mrs Nicholas] made informed
choices and had counselling. I liaised closely with her. If that is moulding
then I am guilty of moulding . . .
"She knew and understood what her options were."
Detective Chief Inspector Rex Miller, who headed the PCA investigation in 1995,
told The Dominion Post Mrs Nicholas had been "moulded like play
dough" into not making a complaint.