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Allegations
of Sexual Abuse |
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Assistant Police Commissioner
Clint Rickards wore his police uniform on the first day of his trial for the
rape of a Rotorua teenager, Louise Nicholas. Some 20 years after the alleged
sexual abuse, he stood in the dock of an Auckland courtroom yesterday as the
indictment outlining charges against him was read. He answered each charge in
a clear, strong voice: "Not guilty." His plea was echoed by two former police
officers standing in the dock next to him, Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum. The trio face a total of 20 sex
charges based on complaints by Ms Nicholas, who says she was sexually abused
as an 18-year-old in 1985 and 1986, when the men were all police officers
based in Rotorua. The men are accused of raping her
on various occasions, including one incident in which the three are alleged
to have all been involved in a rape and an indecent assault with a police
baton. Shipton and Rickards face
representative charges for forced intercourse and oral sex alleged to have
occurred prior to the baton incident. The three-week trial, in the High
Court at Auckland, is expected to get under way properly today, with
prosecutor Brent Stanaway outlining the Crown's case in more detail. The prosecution plans to call
between 40 and 45 witnesses. A jury comprising five men and
seven women was selected yesterday, but no evidence was presented as
pre-trial legal arguments had yet to be heard. Wide-ranging suppression orders
preventing discussion of the case in the media were lifted, though Justice
Tony Randerson made orders preventing the publication of some evidence to be
called in the coming weeks. Queen's Counsel John Haigh and
Paul Mabey are representing Rickards and Schollum, and Bill Nabney is
representing Shipton. |
