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Allegations
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Louise Nicholas, the
woman who took one of the country's top policemen to court on rape and sex
charges, has been getting support from throughout the country. Mrs Nicholas made comments
through a family spokesman today that she was "feeling as anyone would
in her situation" the day after a jury of seven woman and five men
dismissed her allegations of rape and sexual abuse against assistant police
commissioner Clint Rickards and former policemen, Brad Shipton and Bob
Schollum. The three men were
acquitted on all 20 charges after a three-week hearing in the High Court at
Auckland yesterday. Mrs Nicholas claimed
they had raped her and sexually abused her, once with a police baton, while
she was an 18-year-old in Rotorua in 1985 and 1986. She told the court she
could not say no to the men because they were policemen who intimidated her
and she was scared of them. In their own defence
the three men said she lied. They said the incident with the baton never
happened and although they had had group sex with her, it was consensual and
not against her will. Mrs Nicholas walked
smartly from the court in Auckland yesterday, one hand holding her husband
Ross's hand, the other clenched in a fist. She refused to answer
questions. Today a family
spokesman issued a brief statement. "She and the
Nicholas family just want to thank family and friends for their support and
the hundreds and hundreds of ordinary New Zealanders who sent cards and letters
of support," the family spokesman said. Outside the court
Rickards told of the "torture" of the last 30 months since the
inquiry began but he would not talk about his feelings for Mrs Nicholas. When asked how he felt
about her, his lawyer John Haigh, QC, intervened and said it was not
appropriate. Rickards, 45, has been
suspended from the police on full pay since the inquiry began but discussions
about his future were expected to take some time. |
