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Allegations
of Sexual Abuse |
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Long pent-up emotions
found voice in gasps and guttural sobs among a packed public gallery
yesterday as the jury forewoman in the Louise Nicholas case uttered the words
"not guilty" for the 20th and last time. It was just gone
afternoon tea time, two days and two hours since the seven women and five men
on the jury were asked to begin their deliberations. "Justice,"
yelled one woman among the throng in courtroom 12 in the High Court at
Auckland. "At last," a man added. "Love you,
Brad," Sharon Shipton called to her husband, Brad, in the dock 5m away,
where stood Bob Schollum - like Mr Shipton a former policeman - and one of
the highest-ranking officers in the land, Assistant Commissioner Clint
Rickards. Mrs Nicholas,
accompanied by her husband, Ross, seated towards the rear of the court, left quietly
as the final verdict was read. Visibly upset, she
walked from the historic stone and brick courthouse in Parliament St, Central
Auckland, soon after, her husband at her side. Detective
Superintendent Nick Perry, head of the police team set up to investigate her
allegations, said Mrs Nicholas was obviously disappointed but had no comment.
Extensive suppression
orders remain in place. It was a day for the
accused and their supporters to have their say, the end of a chapter of a
story that began 20 years ago. Mr Shipton's family
expressed disgust that so much taxpayers' money had been spent on the inquiry
and alleged that politics had played a part. For the two and half
weeks leading up to yesterday's decision, courtroom 12 had been taken back to
a time of beat-up Vauxhall Vivas, old Triumphs, of drinking in Rotorua's Cobb
and Co, when police officers finishing a night shift at 5am on a Sunday went
for drinking sessions known as "Sunday Schools". Out of those times had
come allegations of rape and indecent assault. Among them, Mr Rickards, Mr
Shipton and Mr Schollum had faced 20 charges, including allegations that they
had violated Mrs Nicholas with a police baton. After hearing from 25
witnesses and addresses from prosecution and defence counsel, the jury had
retired at 1pm on Wednesday and was now back with its verdicts. Lawyers, journalists,
friends, family, police officers, former police officers, law students and
about 60 members of the public gathered to hear the outcome. In the front row sat
Caron Schollum, expressionless, gripping a friend's hand. Beside her Sharon
Shipton closed tired eyes and mouthed words to herself. Mr Rickard's partner,
Tania Eden, smiled, a Maori carving around her neck as it had been for the
past 13 days, and said "be strong"as she held tight to a friend's
hand. Their partners walked
into the dock. Behind them, Mrs Nicholas, the woman who brought them all
here, sat steely faced, flanked by her husband and detectives. Before the jury entered
the room, Justice Tony Randerson called for the public to show consideration,
that "whatever the outcome, the verdicts be received in complete silence
and that you save your reactions for outside the courtroom". As the not guilty
verdicts were read one by one, tears began to flow. Mrs Schollum was
surrounded by people holding her shoulders, Ms Eden nodded her head, grinning
wider and wider. In the dock, Mr
Rickards stood emotionless, even as the wave of jury decisions rolled in. Mr Schollum was first
to show emotion, shaking his head and bowing forward as the forewoman said
"not guilty" to the charge of indecent assault with a baton. He
squeezed his eyes but was unable to stem the tears. Mr Shipton rubbed his
friend's back, then he too started weeping. Head bowed, he pinched the bridge
of his nose with thumb and forefinger. With all the verdicts
read, Mr Rickards finally buckled. His eyes watered, his shoulders slumped,
the first visible signs of relief. In the gallery
supporters of the men were hugged. In the direction of the prosecution a
supporter snapped, "You're a piece of shit." As Mrs Nicholas left
the room, the emotions were too much for the three women who had sat and
listened to the sordid stories of their partners' sexual past, evidence of
where they had sex, how they had sex and of who had watched. Justice Randerson
thanked the jurors, saying their task had been "unpleasant and
unsavoury". The trial itself had
been quite simple, he said. It was the events "swirling around in the
outside world" that had caused the problems. The judge revealed that
there had been a risk of the trial being aborted and that he had had to take
drastic action. Two members of the public had been held in contempt of court:
A woman was jailed for three days for talking to a member of the jury, and a
man who had breached a court order was banned from returning to court during
the trial. Within five minutes of
the verdicts being read, the public gallery was empty. Mrs Nicholas had gone,
with the portion of the gallery who were there in support of her. While the judge and
lawyers remained inside sorting out suppression orders, family and supporters
of the cleared trio gathered in a circle outside for karakia. Among them was
former MP Willie Jackson, who called himself part of the support team. Mr Shipton's brother
Craig thanked the group of about 30 and said the verdicts restored his faith
in God. "It is something
to lose faith in the system, and an apology is warranted. These are good men.
The world needs more of these men, and we should all be proud of them. "Our family can
sleep tonight and know maybe, maybe, this justice system works. However, I
hate to think that any persecution like this might happen to someone
else." He and another brother,
Greg Shipton, described the prosecution of the men as political. Even the
Prime Minister had commented, which they said was inappropriate. Craig Shipton:
"It's purely political and quite frankly we are going to be asking some
serious questions about the use of taxpayers' money to put good people
through this. We have a lot of rubbish going on at the moment in this
country. This is politically driven, and it's time it stopped." Greg Shipton: "Had
Clint Rickards been a plumber in Rotorua, it would have been investigated
once and that would be it. This is about stopping the first Maori
commissioner of police." He criticised the
"corrupt" police and said they were "still out there
soliciting complaints". Mr Shipton's sister,
Tracey Shipton, told the Weekend Herald the family had never thought the men
would be acquitted. As he was about to
leave the courtroom, Mr Rickards hugged his lawyer, Queen's Counsel John
Haigh, then left hand-in-hand with Ms Eden to an unlit room off the foyer. Two women, arms folded,
defiantly blocked the doorway and window. One, a Maori warden,
was soon replaced by a man wearing a black T-shirt, "Awesome Aotearoa
Warriors" emblazoned across his burly chest. Inside the room, a
blinking Mr Rickards greeted well-wishers with hugs and backslaps. Mobbed by reporters as
he left the court, Mr Rickards vigorously rubbed Ms Eden's shoulder as he
told the media how "terribly relieved" he was. In January 2004, before
the allegations against him became public, Mr Rickards was commander of the
Auckland police district. His career had been a stellar one. He joined the police in
January 1979, signing up to cadet wing 23 three days after his 18th birthday,
and was first stationed in his hometown of Rotorua. The remarkable career of
police officer CR7055 was under way. Not long into the job,
he was shoulder-tapped and asked to join the undercover programme. A well-built man
trained in the martial art of judo (he represented NZ at the 1986 Commonwealth
Games, where he came fourth in his division), he seemed the perfect
candidate. Long-term operations in Kawerau, Invercargill and Christchurch
followed, with short-term stints in Wellington and Auckland too. He delved
into drug rings and burglary rackets. Proving he had brains
as well as brawn, he gained a bachelor of business studies degree from Massey
University and a masters in public policy from Charles Sturt University, New
South Wales. During the past two years he has been studying for a doctorate
in business. By the time he was
appointed Waikato district commander in 1999, he was being noticed by then
Police Minister George Hawkins for his innovative crime prevention and
community programmes, some of which were run in conjunction with Ms Eden, at
that time a fellow officer. The pair became a
couple about 1993 and have a daughter, one of five of Mr Rickards' children. He also won plaudits
for his work in the Maori community, taking pride in his Ngati Apakura and
Ngati Hikairo tribal links and seeking to reduce Maori offending rates. The Nicholas
allegations became public in January 2004, but unlike previous inquiries that
were conducted away from the gaze of public attention, these accusations
against Mr Rickards, Mr Schollum and Mr Shipton were very much in the open. A high-powered inquiry
team, headed by Mr Perry, began one of the most important investigations
conducted by the New Zealand police, and Mr Rickards was stood down from
duty. The inquiry took 14
months before the trio were charged. It was another 12 months before they
stood trial. After all those months,
the length of time that the jury took to make its decision had been almost
unbearable, family members said. "We were
praying," said Tracey Shipton. Because of the time it took for the jury
to come back she said the families had started to think the worst. "There were so
many charges we weren't sure when the end [of the jury's not guilty verdicts]
was coming. "We're all sad
because it should never have come to this." She said they had stuck
it out on the second floor of the High Court - a divide between them and a
scrum of waiting media for three long days. She recalled sitting on
the floor massaging her mother Lorraine's feet at 8.30 on Thursday night. "It has affected
her health. It has affected her faith in society," she said as she
waited for Mr Shipton's wife, who was spending private time with her husband.
They hugged and cried
and as she walked out of courtroom 12 for the last time, Sharon Shipton
nodded with dark-ringed eyes and said, "He's very happy with the result.
"We never ever doubted. We never ever doubted for one moment these men
were innocent. We know them." Mr Rickards, the only
one of the trio to have taken the stand, had told the jury he admitted having
two consensual sexual encounters with Mrs Nicholas. He said he made no
excuse for what was a jovial, happy time but he was not proud. "I had a
partner and I had two children; that speaks for itself," he told the
court. Mrs Nicholas' evidence
was of rape. She spoke of a loss of control, wanting to hide, and of the
moment she alleged a smirking Mr Shipton loomed over her in 1986, police
baton in one hand as the other two officers looked on. She had been a victim
of conditioning, of an imbalance of power, and had lost her ability to
resist. Mr Rickards said her
allegations were a lie.
It was the right result
as far as today, and I certainly would like to make my heartfelt gratitude to
my legal team, Mr Haigh. They have done a splendid job, and justice prevailed
today. It has been torture,
torture for the last 2 years. This has been the worst nightmare you could
ever imagine. Look, it's been very
traumatic for my wife [Tania Eden] and my whanau as well. One thing that's
pulled me through has been my whanau. You have seen them here
today, my wife, Tania, my son and my brother have been with me all the way
and my extended whanau. If you didn't have that support it would be even more
traumatic. Twenty-four hours, seven days a week. [The period the jury
deliberated had been] torture, yeah it's been mayhem. Asked if Mr Rickards
expected to take his job back, his lawyer, John Haigh, QC, said it was a
matter to be resolved later. "There are a lot
of negotiations and so forth and discussions with the police department and
we'll pursue that at a later point." Asked his view of
Louise Nicholas right now, Mr Haigh said: "It's probably not appropriate
to go into that."
Deputy Commissioner Lyn
Provost says police will start talks with Clint Rickards' lawyer about
employment matters. "There are many
factors involved both from the point of view of the employee and the employer
and I am not going to speculate or prejudice those matters by public
commentary," said Ms Provost. She said the Operation
Austin team which had undertaken the investigation into Mr Rickards, Brad
Shipton and Bob Schollum had done so according to the highest standards of
professionalism in the police. "They have
discharged their duty in exemplary fashion," she said.
Helen Clark, who passed
over Clint Rickards for the job of deputy police commissioner six years ago
after hearing he had been investigated for sexual misconduct, was accused
yesterday of persecution. "As a family we
will be asking serious questions - this is persecution from the Prime
Minister down," said Craig Shipton, brother of Brad Shipton. Craig Shipton accused
Helen Clark of interfering in the case by commenting publicly on it. This was denied last
night by a spokeswoman for Helen Clark, who said neither the Prime Minister
nor any Government minister had ever commented on the court case.
The charges Clinton
John Tukotahi Rickards Robert
Francis Schollum Bradley
Keith Shipton |
