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This page last
updated March 13 2006
2005-1028 - Dominion Post -
Suppression to 'dampen publicity'
The High Court has moved to dampen publicity surrounding historical sex
allegations against police officers in Rotorua. Louise Nicholas' allegations
against Assistant Police Commissioner Clint Rickards and former policemen
Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum are scheduled to be tested in a High Court
trial at Auckland in March.
2005-1026 - Southland Times
- Pre-trial hearing starts
Pre-trial applications relating to the prosecution of Rickards and former
policemen Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum began in the court yesterday. Details
surrounding the pre-trial applications have been suppressed.
2005-1025 - Stuff - Policemen due
back in court on sex charges
Three policemen accused of the pack rape of Rotorua woman Louise Nicholas
were due back in court today for pre trial applications to be heard. The men,
assistant commissioner Clinton John Tukotahi Rickards, Bradley Keith Shipton
and Robert Francis Schollum, will go to trial in March.
2005-1025 - One News - Historic
rape case hearing underway
The High Court in Auckland has been hearing pre-trial applications in the
Louise Nicholas pack rape case.Police assistant commissioner Clint Rickards
and two former officers, Bob Schollum and Brad Shipton, deny raping and
sexually assaulting Nicholas in Rotorua in the mid-1980s
2005-1025 - NZ Herald -
Leading policeman in court on sex charges
NZPA - Three current and former policemen accused of the pack rape of Rotorua
woman Louise Nicholas were due back in court today for pre trial applications
to be heard. Today's hearing in the High Court in Auckland was in chambers,
meaning it cannot be reported other than to say the pre-trial applications
were being heard.
2005-1025 - Newstalk ZB -
Nicholas pre-trial suppressed
Chief High Court Judge Randerson has suppressed media reporting of all
pre-trial proceedings . On application from Crown and defence lawyers, he has
also made an interim order for the media not to recap the history of the
case.
2005-0929 - NZ Herald -
Former policemen face High Court in rape case
by Elizabeth Binning - An assistant police commissioner and two other men
will go to trial in March accused of pack-raping Rotorua woman Louise
Nicholas.
2005-0929 - Dominion Post -
Police rape trial
Assistant police commissioner Clint Rickards and two other men will go to trial
in March accused of the pack rape of Rotorua woman Louise Nicholas. The trial
is to be heard in the High Court at Auckland and is set down for three weeks.
It will follow four days of pre-trial applications, which are scheduled to be
heard in the same court from October 25.
2005-0902 - The Press -
Auckland trial
2005-0902 - NZ Herald -
Auckland trial for trio in Louise Nicholas case
2005-0901 - Newstalk ZB -
Police rape trial moves to Auckland
Two former police officers and one current top officer accused of raping a
Rotorua woman are to have their trial moved to Auckland
2005-0730 - NZ Herald -
Suspended police chief awaits trial on full pay
Assistant Police Commissioner Clint Rickards - committed this week to stand
trial on sex charges - remains suspended on full pay. One of New Zealand's
top police officers, Rickards is not being treated differently from any other
officer facing criminal charges, says a spokesman from police national
headquarters.
2005-0727 - Otago Daily Times -
Police chief for trial on 8 charges
by Danya Levy, of NZPA - 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”…… 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.
2005-0727 - Otago Daily Times -
Committed.htm
Police Assistant Commissioner Clinton Rickards (44) and two former policemen
were yesterday committed to stand trial on historical allegations of pack
rape. Rotorua woman Louise Nicholas has alleged she was sexually abused by
the three men in 1986 when they were based at Rotorua police station
2005-0727 - One News - Lawyers
to fight Nicholas rape trial
Lawyers for three men who are to stand trial on charges of raping and
sexually assaulting a Rotorua woman intend to try and stop the case going
ahead. ….But their lawyers have indicated they will seek a court order
staying the proceedings on the grounds that the amount of publicity given to
the case means they can't get a fair trial.
2005-0727 - NZ Herald -
Historic rape case 'built on straw' says lawyer
By Rosaleen MacBrayne - Historic sex allegations against one of New Zealand's
top police officers was a case "at best, built on straw", the
Rotorua District Court heard yesterday. There was no substance to charges of
rape, indecent assault and sexual violation faced by Assistant Commissioner
Clint Rickards, Judge Chris McGuire was told just before he committed
Rickards and two former policemen, Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum, for trial.
2005-0727 - Newstalk ZB -
Nicholas gives evidence
Louise Nicholas has told the Rotorua District Court that Assistant Police
Commissioner Clint Rickards and his then colleague Brad Shipton would walk
into her house and intimidate her into sex whenever they felt like it.
2005-0727 - Dominion Post - 'I
thought I could trust him'
In an evidence statement presented to the court Mrs Nicholas said she had
known Schollum from when she was a child in Murupara and he was stationed
there -- "I used to babysit his children" -- and thought she could
trust him. She met Rickards and Shipton for the first time late in 1985 when
her indoor cricket team was invited to the Rotorua police club.
2005-0727 - Dominion Post -
Court told of 'rape terror'
 by Chalpat Sonti - Louise Nicholas
has described the terror and helplessness she felt when allegedly pack-raped
repeatedly by three policemen, who were yesterday committed to stand trial
over the historical sex charges. Mrs Nicholas was not at Rotorua District
Court to hear her 32-page written statement read to a depositions hearing,
which outlined how she felt powerless to refuse three large men with the
weight of the law behind them.
2005-0726 - NZ Herald -
Hearing interest reflected by media turnout
Media came close to outnumbering members of the public at a pre-trial hearing
for Assistant Police Commissioner Clinton Rickards and two former policemen
accused of raping Rotorua woman Louise Nicholas. Twelve journalists filled
seats in an area usually occupied by jurors at the start of the depositions
hearing at the Rotorua District Court yesterday
2005-0726 - Newstalk ZB - Case
built on straw claims defence lawyer
 Queen's Counsel John Haigh has
delivered an impassioned speech to the Rotorua District Court, saying the
case against his client Assistant Police Commissioner Clint Rickards is built
on straw…….. Before Judge Chris McGuire made his ruling, Mr Haig told the
court the Crown's case is based on an obsessive and flawed police
investigation, which has accumulated stale and unreliable evidence
John
Haigh QC
2005-0726 - Stuff - Top cop and former
policemen to stand trial
One of New Zealand's highest ranking policemen and two former police officers
were today committed to stand trial before the High Court on historical
allegations of pack rape
2005-0726 - NZ Herald - High Court
to hear police pack rape case
NZPA - Following a two-day depositions hearing in Rotorua District Court
Judge Chris McGuire today ordered the men to stand trial. "My job is to
find whether there is sufficient evidence to place the defendants on trial, and
I do so find," he told the court. Lawyers for the accused men said their
clients denied the allegations and would plead not guilty.
2005-0726 - One News - Nicholas
rape case to go to trial
 Source RNZ - The three men accused
of raping Rotorua woman Louise Nicholas will stand trial. The Rotorua
District Court has sent Auckland police assistant commissioner Clint Rickards
and former police officers Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum to trial. The men
deny charges of raping, sexually violating and indecently assaulting Nicholas
in 1985 and 1986
2005-0726 - Newstalk ZB -
Senior cops committed for trial
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(top) Brad Shipton
(below) Bob Schollums
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Assistant Police Commissioner Clint Rickards and two
former policemen have been committed for trial on rape and indecent assault charges.Shortly
before 4 o'clock in the Rotorua District Court, Judge Chris McGuire ruled
Rickards and his former colleagues Bob Schollum and Brad Shipton will stand
trial on 20 charges relating to local woman Louise Nicholas
2005-0726 - Daily News -
Relatives tell of suspicions at rape claimant's police visitors
The husband and mother-in-law of Rotorua woman Louise Nicholas yesterday told
a hearing into allegations of historic pack-rape by three police officers
they were suspicious of visits by the accused to the then 18-year-old woman's
house. Mrs Nicholas, now a 38-year-old mother of three, claims she was
sexually abused by one of New Zealand's highest ranking police officers and
two former policemen in 1986 when they were all stationed in Rotorua
2005-0726 - NZ Herald -
Pack-rape hearing resumes in secrecy
A depositions hearing into historical allegations of pack rape by one of New
Zealand's highest-ranking policemen and two former police officers resumed in
secrecy today with witnesses' evidence suppressed by a judge in Rotorua
District Court.
2005-0726 - Dominion Post -
Former police officers appear in court charged with the rape of Louise
Nicholas
 by Chalpat Sonti - Crown prosecutor Mark Zarifeh said Mrs Nicholas was
18 at the time of the alleged offending. She had known Schollum for some
years and through him she met Rickards and Shipton at her Corlett St home.
She did not consider them friends, but they became regular visitors.
"The sole purpose of their visits was to have sexual intercourse with
her," Mr Zarifeh said. "Although she told them she did not want to
have sex, because Rickards and Shipton were police officers, combined with
their physical presence, she felt powerless to reject their sexual
advances."
Clint Rickards
2005-0726 - NZ Herald - Woman
rejected police sex
by Rosaleen MacBrayne - Louise Nicholas did not want to have sex with three
men now charged with raping, sexually violating and indecently assaulting her
nearly 20 years ago, when she was 18, a court heard yesterday. But, the
Rotorua woman alleges, she felt powerless to reject their sexual advances
because they were policemen - combined with their physical presence.
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Louise Nicholas
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2005-0725 - One News - Preliminary
hearing in sex case
Source RNZ - Police Assistant Commissioner Clint Rickards and two former
police officers have returned to court to face a preliminary hearing over
sexual allegations made by Rotorua woman Louise Nicholas. Rickards, who has been
stood down from his job as Auckland central commander, faces charges along
with former officers Bob Schollum and Brad Shipton
2005-0725 - Newstalk ZB -
Cops pressured woman for sex, court hears
The Rotorua District Court has been told Assistant Police Commissioner Clint
Rickards and former policeman Brad Shipton pressured Louise Nicholas into sex
up to a dozen times………Crown prosecutor Mark Zarifeh says although she did not
consider them friends Rickards and Shipton would regularly visit Mrs
Nicholas' flat for sex. He says she felt physically intimidated by them and
powerless to resist.
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2005-0725 - Newstalk ZB -
Husband gives evidence against rape-accused
Louise Nicholas's husband and mother in law have given evidence against three
men accused of raping and indecently assaulting her………Her husband Ross
Nicholas says he met the accused on a social basis with Louise and was
present when they visited her house. The accused deny the charges but say
they had consensual group sex with Mrs Nicholas.
2005-0725 - Stuff - Top cop facing
pack-rape charges in Rotorua
NZPA - Rotorua woman Louise Nicholas alleges that in1986 at the age of 18 she
had sex against her will with Shipton and Rickards between six and 12 times
at her house in Corlett St. She also alleges that on another occasion,
Schollum offered her a ride home but drove her to another address in Rutland
St where she was pack-raped by all three accused. All three men have
strenuously denied the allegations
Prosecutor Mark Zarifeh
2005-0725
- NZ Herald - Suppression orders lifted in police pack rape case
 NZPA - A series of suppression
orders surrounding a case in which one of New Zealand's highest ranking
police officers and two former policemen are accused of serious sexual
assaults was lifted today. Judge Chris McGuire relaxed earlier restrictions
on reporting any details of the allegations when a depositions hearing into
claims of pack rape began in Rotorua District Court today.
Judge Chris McGuire
2005-0725 - Newstalk ZB - Hearing
today into case brought Louise Nicholas
The Rotorua District Court begins hearing the case against three men facing
sex charges in relation to allegations by local woman Louise Nicholas. Former
police officers Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum, and Assistant Police
Commissioner Clint Rickards are before the court. The depositions hearing is
set down for two weeks and is subject to a complex set of suppression orders.
2005-0723 - Waikato Times -
Details in sex case under wraps
NZPA - Evidence of sexual offences alleged to have been committed by one of
New Zealand's highest-ranking police officers and two former policemen will
be presented in Rotorua District Court next week. But suppression orders made
by Judge Chris McGuire in the same court yesterday will prevent details being
made public
2005-0723 - NZ Herald - 3 officers
accused of sexual offences
NZPA - Evidence of sexual offences alleged to have been committed by one of
New Zealand's highest-ranking police officers and two former policemen will
be presented in Rotorua District Court next week. But suppression orders made
by Judge Chris McGuire in the same court yesterday prevent the media from reporting
details of the case.
2005-0719 - Dominion Post -
Dewar loses grievance case
A former detective accused of covering up Louise Nicholas' allegations
against police officers has been ordered to pay $9300 after losing a personal
grievance case. Former Rotorua CIB police chief John Dewar was accused by Mrs
Nicholas last year of covering up her complaints against Clint Rickards, Bob
Schollum and Brad Shipton in the 1980s.
2005-0620 - The Press - No charges
over alleged rape
by Jarrod Booker - No charges will be laid against a police officer accused
of raping a Christchurch woman 18 years ago. An investigation was launched
into the allegation against the Bay of Plenty officer after former prostitute
Niki Koster made the rape complaint last year. She complained to police after Louise
Nicholas went public with allegations she was pack-raped
2005-0620 - NZ Herald -
Officer accused of rape in clear
No charges will be laid against a police officer accused of raping a
Christchurch woman 18 years ago. An investigation was launched into the
allegation against the Bay of Plenty officer after a former prostitute made
the rape complaint last year.
2005-0620 - Dominion
Post - Policeman cleared
No charges will be laid against a police officer accused of raping a
Christchurch woman in Rotorua 18 years ago.
2005-0602 - NZ Herald -
Police accusers lose faith in closed commission
The two women whose accusations sparked a commission of inquiry into police
culture say they have lost confidence in the process set up to investigate
their claims. Louise Nicholas and Judith Garrett were told they could not
speak at the commission hearings, given the trials pending over their
allegations of rape by policemen.
2005-0601 - One News - Police
reject manipulating inquiry
The police have rejected claims they prevented a commission of inquiry into
police conduct from hearing how police handled a high-profile rape case.
Judith Garret, whose rape claim against several police officers helped spark
the commission, believes police reopened her case before the inquiry began to
stop it hearing how her initial claim was handled
2005-0601 - Dominion Post -
Women fight for conduct hearing
by Haydon Dewes - Two women who prompted the commission of inquiry into
police conduct are now fighting to be heard by it, after a ruling that they
cannot give evidence. Louise Nicholas'
and Judith Garrett's allegations of rape by police in the 1980s led to the
commission being set up in February last year, days after The Dominion Post
reported Mrs Nicholas' allegations.
2005-0506 - Otago Daily Times -
Dewar charged
Former Rotorua detective John Dewar (53) entered no plea when he appeared in
the Hamilton District Court yesterday charged with four counts of obstructing
the course of justice.
2005-0506 - Dominion
Post - Nicholas detective arrested
Former Rotorua detective John Dewar has been charged with obstructing the
course of justice relating to police rape complainant Louise Nicholas. Dewar,
53, a human resources manager with St John Ambulance, appeared in Hamilton
District Court yesterday to face four charges, which date to between 1993 and
1995. He entered no plea.
2005-0506 - NZ Herald -
Ex-detective charged over police probe
 by Nicola Boyes - A former detective who investigated complaints
against police made by Rotorua woman Louise Nicholas has appeared in court
charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice by suppressing her
allegations. John Dewar, now the human resources manager for St John, had to
be directed towards the dock by his lawyer Giles Brant when his name was
called in the Hamilton District Court yesterday
2005-0505 - Newstalk ZB -
Dewar appears in court
The officer who first investigated complaints against police by Rotorua woman
Louise Nicholas, is accused of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Former senior detective John Dewar appeared in the Hamilton District Court
today on four counts of attempting to obstruct, pervert or defeat the course
of justice.
2005-0428 - Waikato
Times - Ex-policeman loses grievance case
A former policeman accused of covering up an alleged police rape has argued
in a failed employment grievance claim that unnecessary-work restrictions
were placed on him following publicity of the issue. Former Rotorua CIB
police chief John Dewar, now resources manager for Hamilton-based St John
Midland, was accused by Rotorua woman Louise Nicholas last year of covering
up her complaints in the 1980s that she was raped by police officers
2005-0406 - Stuff - Public
meeting over police conduct inquiry
NZPA - The Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct has called a public
meeting on how it can pursue its brief while criminal prosecutions are under
way. It will be held at the Wellington District Court building on April 22
and will consider submissions, which must be filed in writing by April 15.
Prime Minister Helen Clark announced the Commission of Inquiry in February
2004
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