NZ Herald
February 5, 2004
Probe will include similar cases
by Kevin Taylor
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."
Commission
of Inquiry
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.