|
|
Allegations
of Sexual Abuse |
|
|
|
|
Louise Nicholas, whose
allegations of rape and sexual abuse against assistant police commissioner
Clint Rickards and two former policeman were dismissed by an Auckland court
on Friday, has no regrets about laying her complaints. Mrs Nicholas told the
Sunday News: "You just do what you believe in". "Its onwards and
upwards from here." Mrs Nicholas told the
newspaper the prolonged saga had been tough on her and her family but she was
determined to get through with help from loved ones. She said she had
endured an agonising wait as the jury of seven women and five men deliberated
for 26 hours before returning their not guilty verdicts. "It was
unbelievable. But all we could do was wait. We had no idea whether it would
be good or bad," Mrs Nicholas said. Mrs Nicholas said
through a family spokesman yesterday she was "feeling as anyone would in
her situation". Rickards and former
policemen, Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum 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 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. 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. 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. |
