NZ Herald
February 14, 2004
Rob Robinson worked in Rotorua
by Patrick Gower
Police Commissioner
Rob Robinson worked for a short time as a policeman in Rotorua, with the
officers that Louise Nicholas has accused of pack rape.
Mr Robinson, who was a sergeant in the Rotorua CIB between October and December
1985, might have to give evidence to the inquiries into the allegations.
Mrs Nicholas alleges she was raped and violated with a police baton by Rotorua
officers Clint Rickards, Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum in a police house in
about 1986. All three strongly deny the accusations.
Mr Robinson had spent most of 1985 off on leave without pay and was in the
throes of leaving the police on medical grounds until deciding to return after
a knee reconstruction operation.
In the three months Mr Robinson was in Rotorua, official police records show Mr
Rickards had been selected for CIB duties and was undergoing his induction.
It is understood Mr Schollum was also attached to the CIB.
Mr Shipton was a uniformed officer and public records show that in October 1985
he and his wife were living in the police house where Mrs Nicholas alleges she
was pack raped.
Mr Robinson declined to answer a series of questions yesterday about his time
in Rotorua.
He said he recalled that the Rotorua station "was a busy one at that
time". But he did not want to talk about the police culture in Rotorua in
the 1980s before the terms of reference of the commission of inquiry were released.