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Allegations
of Sexual Abuse |
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One by one they broke
down in tears -- senior police officer Clint Rickards was the last to succumb.
The suspended Assistant
Police Commissioner had stood stoically yesterday as the jury forewoman was
asked 20 times for a verdict. Each time she replied:
"Not guilty." Former policeman Bob Schollum
was the first to crack. As he began to cry, Brad Shipton put his arm around
his former colleague and then his tears began. Rickards, who was
Auckland's top policeman until his suspension two years and two months ago,
was the last to show emotion. The three men were
acquitted on 20 charges brought by Rotorua woman Louise Nicholas's
allegations that they raped and sexually assaulted her, including with a
police baton, 20 years ago. The jury of seven women
and five men deliberated for 27 hours over three days. The acquittal followed
a 10-day trial in the High Court in Auckland, which Justice Tony Randerson
said had heard evidence of an "unsavoury" nature. The judge had asked for
silence as the verdicts were delivered. As the three men walked
from the dock, they hugged and back-slapped their lawyers. Nicholas, who had come
to the court to hear the outcome in person, left the courthouse with her
husband, Ross, and declined to comment. She had given evidence that the three
men used their position as policemen to make her have group sex against her
will. As Rickards left the
courthouse with his arm wrapped around his wife, Tania Eden, he said the
right result had prevailed. "It's been
torturous. It's been torture for the last 2½ years. "This has been the
worst nightmare you could ever imagine. "It's been very
traumatic for my wife, and for my whanau as well. "The one thing
that has pulled me through has been my whanau." A decision on whether
Rickards can resume his job has yet to be made. His lawyer, John Haigh
QC, said employment matters would "be resolved at a later point". "There'll be
negotiations and so forth and discussions with the police department." Deputy Police
Commissioner Lyn Provost said those discussions could not be rushed. "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," Provost said. The team who had
investigated Nicholas's allegations had done so to the highest standards of
professionalism, she said. However, Haigh said the
prosecution should never have been brought. "There are a few
things I will say one day about the way it's been dealt with by the
police," he said. Schollum's lawyer, Paul
Mabey QC, said his client was "obviously relieved". "Louise Nicholas
has been making public allegations against Bob Schollum for years. He has
always denied them," he said. "They have been
made in public and made widely by her, but the only members of the public
that count are the jury and this jury has rejected those allegations." The judge ordered that
widespread suppression orders made at the start of the trial would continue. The order prevents
publication of evidence from five witnesses at the trial. He said that internet
bulletin boards and chat rooms might need to be monitored. Schollum's wife, Caron,
said: "I'm elated. I just want to get home to my children. Bob will be
delighted." Shipton's wife, Sharon,
wept and said justice had been done. "We just want to
be with our husbands and families and celebrate what was the right outcome. "We've never ever
doubted, never ever doubted for one moment that these men were innocent. "We know
them." Eden said: "I'm
just happy to get home with my family. "We have five
children. We are an ordinary Kiwi family that has suffered for 2½
years." |
