Stuff
August 28 2004
Nicholas accepts police rape inquiry delay
NZPA
The woman whose rape allegation
sparked the Commission of Inquiry into police conduct accepts the need to delay
the commission's investigation.
The hearing into the way police
handled complaints of sexual abuse by officers over the past 25 years had been expected
to take three months.
But yesterday it was announced it
would not restart until October 22 and may not begin hearing evidence until
after any criminal proceedings had finished, which could take years.
The commission was established after
Rotorua woman Louise Nicholas alleged in January that she was pack-raped and
violated with a police baton by three police officers in 1986 when she was 18.
The men vigorously deny the allegations.
After yesterday's announcement, Mrs Nicholas said she had been hoping the matter would have
been "all over and done with" this year.
"But it's not going to be, and
I appreciate the fact that it's a big investigation by the police and it's
going to take a while," she told National Radio.
"Unfortunately, by the sounds of
it, it means the commission just has to hold off for a while."
In a statement yesterday
commissioners Justice Robertson and Dame Margaret Bazley,
said the hearing should be deferred until it was known whether police officers
would be charged.
The commission adjourned last month
after hearing submissions on whether it should hear evidence in public and if
suppression orders could be made.
The commissioners said yesterday media would be allowed to cover the hearings, but some names would be suppressed to avoid affecting any criminal cases.