The Dominion Post
March 16, 2004
Police rape claim inquiry starts Monday
About 15 lawyers are expected at the first meeting of the commission of inquiry
into police rape allegations.
Monday's
The hearings should begin in May and last till July.
Final figures of how many people came forward to make submissions before the
deadline at 5pm yesterday were not available last night, though a commission
spokesman said expressions of interest would still be accepted. The deadline
had been set to allow the commission to gauge the range of submissions likely
to be made.
The Cabinet has set aside $3 million for the commission of inquiry by High
Court judge Bruce Robertson and former public servant Dame Margaret Bazley. They are expected to report back in November. The
Government established the commission of inquiry to look into alleged sexual
assaults by police and how they were investigated.
Allegations about sexual offending by police officers have surfaced since The
Dominion Post and TV1 reported that Rotorua woman Louise Nicholas was alleging
she was pack-raped in 1986 by two former policemen, Bob Schollum and Brad Shipton,
and Clint Rickards, now Auckland commander and assistant commissioner. The men
have admitted having sex with her but deny rape. Mr Rickards has been stood
down.
Police have reopened a criminal investigation into her allegations. A second
senior policeman, Kelvin Powell, was stood down from all duties for the
duration of the investigation last month.