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Allegations
of Sexual Abuse |
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Rotorua: Police
Assistant Commissioner Clint Rickards and two former policemen were yesterday
committed to stand trial on historical allegations of pack rape his lawyer
claims are based on “an accumulation of stale and unreliable evidence”. Rotorua woman Louise
Nicholas alleges she was sexually abused by the three men in 1986 when they
were based at Rotorua police station. Rickards (44), once
touted as the next police commissioner, faces eight charges of rape, indecent
assault and sexual violation. Bradley Keith Shipton (47) and Robert Francis
Schollum (53) are charged with eight and four counts respectively of rape,
indecent assault and sexual violation. The three men, who have
strenuously denied the allegations, were ordered to stand trial in the High
Court following a two-day depositions hearing in the Rotorua District Court
before Judge Chris McGuire. Rickards’ lawyer, John
Haigh QC, yesterday attacked the police case against the men, saying it was
“at best built on straw”. “It has no substance
but has been propped up by an obsessive and flawed police investigation,” he
told the court. “It’s been an
accumulation of stale and unreliable evidence. It has no objectivity
whatsoever. It is an investigation in name only.” It had taken police 13
months to investigate the allegations at a cost of $3 million and thousands
of hours of police time with 14 officers dedicated to the inquiry, Mr Haigh
said. “Not surprisingly, some
politicians have jumped on this bandwagon, voicing their opinions and
demanding commissions of inquiry.” There had been two
prior police investigations into Mrs Nicholas’ claims - including one police
found to be flawed — which had cleared Rickards, he said. Former police inspector
John Dewar is facing four charges of obstructing the course of justice
following his investigation into the rape allegations. Since the matter
resurfaced in January 2004, Rickards had been unable to maintain his
integrity or reputation, his lawyer said. “These investigations,
which had been investigated twice before he was stood down, remain like a
sword of Damocles over his head.” Rickards remains
suspended from the police force on full pay, which has been estimated at
$200,000. The assistant
commissioner had consistently admitted having consensual sex with Mrs
Nicholas and, despite her “extremely public clamouring”, had refrained from
making any statements to the media himself, Mr Haigh said. In her written
deposition statement, Mrs Nicholas - who is now a 38-yearold mother of three
— described being introduced to Shipton and Rickards at the Rotorua Police
Club in 1985. She had met Schollum, who was a family friend, years before in
her hometown of Murapara. Shipton and Rickards
began visiting her Corlett St house uninvited. The pair would always
visit on a weekday and seemed to know when she had a day off from her job at
the Bank of New Zealand, she said. When she opened the door, they would walk
straight in and take their trousers off. “Each time they came to
my house, my heart would drop because I knew what they wanted. I told them I
didn’t want to have sex with them but it didn’t make any difference. Neither
of them would take any notice of what I said. “I couldn’t stop them
physically because they were both so big. They didn’t use physical force.
They just made me do what they wanted,” said Mrs Nicholas, who described
herself as weighing 47kg at the time. The policemen visited
her between six and 12 times in 1986 and would take turns having sex with
her. “Because they were
policemen, I had a fear in my mind that if I didn’t comply with their
demands, they had the power to put me away. They scared the living daylights
out of me.” One day in January
1986, Mrs Nicholas was walking home from work when Schollum pulled over and
offered her a ride home, she said. “I hadn’t had much
contact with him for some time and for that reason agreed to get in.” He drove her to
Shipton’s rental property in Rutland St where Shipton and Rickards were
standing on the balcony. “I had grave concerns .
. . I didn’t want to go in the house. Schollum said ‘It will be alright, we
won’t be here long’.” When she got inside, an
unidentified man in his 30s or 40s was also in the house, Mrs Nicholas said.
Schollum or Shipton took her into a bedroom at the back of the house and,
despite her protests, took her clothes off. The men took turns
having sex with her — first Schollum, then Shipton, then Rickards, she said.
While they were having sex, the others took turns forcing her to perform oral
sex on them. Afterwards Schollum
drove her home, she said. “He didn’t say anything
to me on the journey. As I was getting our of the car, he said ‘Sorry Lou’.” Lawyers for the accused
men said their clients denied the charges and would plead not guilty. Judge McGuire
remanded them to the High Court at Rotorua on September 1. |
