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Allegations
of Sexual Abuse |
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Yesterday, 20 years
after his alleged rapes of Louise Nicholas, and 11 years after the first
investigation into them, Assistant Commissioner of Police (suspended) Clinton
Rickards finally took the stand in the High Court. And he denied almost
everything. One of the top
policemen in the country, he knows what to do in the witness box. He sits
there, shaven head gleaming, mouth grim, massive jaw thrust out, as
impervious and expressionless as a wax model. His answers are clipped
and minimal. The only time the trace of a smile lightens his face is when he
is asked to look at a photo of himself, his then-partner and baby daughter. As Rickards tells it,
the two times he and colleague Brad Shipton had sex with 18-year-old Louise
Nicholas were happy, jovial occasions. Rickards can't remember why his friend
Brad Shipton picked him up and took him to their colleague Bob Schollum's
place in Rutland St one night after dark. What he can remember is that
Nicholas was there, welcomed them in and almost immediately sat on his lap.
"It was a jovial occasion, laughing, giggling, talking away. It was a
very happy occasion." "Did you ever
force yourself on her?" "No, I did not.
Louise Nicholas is lying." And later, when asked,
"What do you think was in it for Mrs Nicholas?" "I don't know.
You'd have to ask Louise Nicholas that." Although Rickards admits
to feeling embarrassed to be here in court explaining how he and Shipton took
turns to have sex with Nicholas while the other watched, it does not show on
his mask-like face. Throughout his evidence
and cross-examination he does not deviate from the evidence he gave back in
1994 when the case surfaced. A transcript of his evidence sits there on the
computer monitor in the witness box. As he says, "I am happy to answer
questions about it but I won't deviate from the evidence I said before."
And so, with
excruciating slowness, shreds of extra information are prised from Rickards
as though from a tightly clamped oyster. The fact that he watched Shipton
having sex with Nicholas after he had finished; the reason he had oral sex
with Nicholas on the second occasion he admits to meeting her (after he
claimed she called and invited them round) was because she had her period or
some infection. That time Rickards went
on to have sex with Nicholas' flatmate - then promptly forgot her name. Throughout the cross-examination
Rickards' memory falters. He cannot remember
people's names or why and when he went places. Several witnesses brought up
during the trial are described as being "a nobody to me". He seems more
comfortable when speaking directly to judge Tony Randerson, rather than his
lawyer, John Haigh, QC, or Crown Prosecutor Brent Stanaway. "The [rape]
allegations were lies. I had consensual sex with the victim. Now I find
myself in a box having to explain myself again." And later, when asked
about Nicholas' allegation that he and Shipton used a baton on her, causing
bleeding and injury: "I didn't believe it. Louise Nicholas is
lying." "Were you ever
told by Schollum and Shipton about the use of a police baton?" "No, I was
never." At every opportunity he
stresses that "Louise Nicholas is lying" and that he, himself,
tells the truth. At the time of the
alleged rapes and indecent assaults, Rickards was 24 or 25, a detective in
Rotorua, with two small children, a mortgage and a partner. He is 45 now, that
partnership is over and his present partner of 13 or 14 years sits at the
back of the court in a brave pink jacket. Alongside are the wives
of Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum and a crowd of 70-odd citizens all eager to
witness Rickards' day in court. Although he looks over
as they file out, Rickards does not permit himself a smile. |
