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This page last updated March 8 2005
2004-0216 - One News - Appeal for info on
rape claims
The Prime Minister is appealing for anyone with further information
about rape allegations against police officers to come forward soon. Helen
Clark's announced former top civil servant Dame Margaret Bazely and High
Court Judge Bruce Robertson will investigate the allegations including claims
police covered them up later.
2004-0216 - Waikato Times - Muddy waters
getting murkier
The
new police investigation of Louise Nicholas' rape allegations has only just
begun, yet the casualties are mounting up. There is, of course, Nicholas………..
More and more people are becoming deeply entangled. Now add current Waikato police head Kelvin Powell.
2004-0216 - Waikato Times - Top cop always a
high flyer
Waikato
police district commander Kelvin Powell never wanted to be a policeman. The
42-year-old, who was stood-down from his position as Waikato's
top officer on Saturday, wanted to be an air force pilot but failed the
entrance exam.
2004-0216 - Waikato Times - Steady climb
through ranks for stood-down policeman
By Steve Hopkins - Police investigating pack rape allegations have
suspended Waikato's top cop. Steve Hopkins
traces the rise of Kelvin Powell. Waikato
police district commander Kelvin Powell never wanted to be a policeman.
2004-0216 - Waikato Times -
Shocked staff backing Waikato's top c
by Steve Hopkins - Waikato police are
shocked their district commander has been stood down as part of an inquiry
into allegations of police pack-rape. Superintendent Kelvin Powell was stood
down on Saturday
2004-0216 - Stuff - Police ready
for whatever rape inquiry throws up
NZPA - Police say they are ready to confront any further issues kicked
up by investigations into historic rape allegations against a number of
police officers, Commissioner Rob Robinson said today. His comments follow
the standing down at the weekend of Waikato district commander,
Superintendent Kelvin Powell, the second district commander to be relieved of
his post
2004-0216 - Otago Daily Times -
Clark backs police action over rape allegations
by Kevin Norquay, of NZPA - Wellington: It was "appropriate"
for police to take their own action over pack rape allegations involving
their own, Prime Minister Helen Clark said yesterday, after inquiries claimed
another top level officer. Waikato district
commander Kelvin Powell was stood down on Saturday as the police inquiry into
allegations of pack rape in the 1980s by three Rotorua policemen gained
momentum.
2004-0216 - Otago Daily Times -
Allcock to go to Olympics instead
NZPA - Inspector Gary Allcock has taken over the police security
liaison role for the New
Zealand team at the Athens Olympics this
year. He has replaced Waikato district commander, Superintendent Kelvin
Powell, originally picked for the role, but who has been stood down during a
police investigation
2004-0216 - Newstalk ZB - Judge and civil
servant head inquiry
The two commissioners, Justice Bruce Robertson and Dame Margaret
Bazley, will be expected to report back to the government by November.
2004-0216 - The Press - High-powered probe of
police rape claims
by
Vernon Small - Two commissioners will head a government commission of inquiry
sparked by allegations of rape by police officers as another police officer
has been forced to stand down and face investigation. Prime Minister Helen
Clark said yesterday that the names of the commissioners would probably be
announced this week. The police commissioner's office, meanwhile, confirmed Waikato district commander Superintendent Kelvin Powell
was "an individual of interest" to investigations into the rape
allegations.
2004-0216 - NZ Herald - Sex inquiry: Why
police stood second officer down
by Patrick Gower - A second police district commander has been suspended
as the police inquiry into the alleged Rotorua pack rape widens to other
accusations of sexual misconduct. Waikato
district commander Kelvin Powell, who was stood down on Saturday, took over
the district from Assistant Commissioner Clint Rickards.
2004-0216 - Dominion Post - Two
chosen for inquiry into police sex claims
by Vernon Small - Two commissioners will head a government commission
of inquiry prompted by allegations of police rape. Prime Minister Helen Clark
said yesterday it was likely the names of the commissioners would be
announced this week. "A lot of work has been done on the terms of
reference, which we will talk about in general terms when we announce the
commissioners. We just need a few more days to get them well drafted. But we
have a clear idea of where we are going."
2004-0215 - Newstalk ZB - Police
Assoc asks public not to judge
Police
Association urges public to hold fire on judging those officers involved in
pack rape allegations. The Police Association is urging the public to hold
fire on judging officers involved in the pack rape investigations
2004-0215 - Newstalk ZB - Powell
loses Olympic liaison job
Waikato commander stood down
after being named as an individual of interest to rape inquiry has lost job
with Olympic team. Superintendent Kelvin Powell has lost his job as the
police liaison for the New
Zealand Olympic team. It comes after he
was stood down as Waikato District Commander last night.
2004-0215 - Newstalk ZB - Police
boss stood down in Nicholas inquiry
Waikato police chief stood down-
Superintendent Kelvin Powell of interest in Louise Nicholas rape
investigation. The Waikato police chief has
been stood down as the criminal investigation into Louise Nicholas's rape
claims continues.
2004-0215 - One News - Minister
backs cop's standdown
Police
Minister George Hawkins is backing the commissioner's decision to stand down
a second high-ranking officer in an inquiry into claims of rape and a
cover-up within the force. Waikato district
commander Kelvin Powell has been stood down after being declared an
individual of interest to a police investigation into the historic
allegation.
2004-0215 - NZ Herald - Top Waikato
cop stood down as police pack rape probe continues
NZPA - A second New
Zealand police district commander has been
stood down as the inquiry into a Rotorua woman's allegations of pack rape
against a number of policeman picks up speed. A statement from the Office of
the Commissioner confirmed today that Waikato
district commander Superintendent Kelvin Powell "is an individual of
interest to their investigation" into the rape allegations.
2004-0215 - Sunday Star Times -
Rotorua police district damned in report
By
Rachel Grunwell - An official investigation into police mishandling of a rape
complaint criticised at least one officer and named others who have come
under fire in the Louise Nicholas inquiry. It shows that police headquarters
have long been aware of failures by officers stationed in the Rotorua
policing district at the time Nicholas claims her rape complaints were
mishandled. The inquiry was into the mishandling of a complaint of rape made
by Rhondda Herbert-Savage in the 1980s, and was carried out by then-detective
inspector Graham Bell.
2004-0215 - Sunday Star Times -
Second top cop stood down
by
David Fisher and Rachel Grunwell - A second high-ranking police officer was
stood down last night as the investigation into allegations of a rape
cover-up spread. The Waikato district
commander, superintendent Kelvin Powell, was interviewed on Thursday by
police investigating claims by Rotorua's Louise Nicholas that she was raped
by three serving police officers in the '80s.
2004-0214 - Dominion Post - Inquiry head in
group sex claim
by
Phil Kitchin - The former senior policeman who failed to properly investigate
police pack-rape allegations had earlier engaged in group sex with one of the
same policemen, a woman alleged last night. The woman said that former
Detective Inspector John Dewar was a friend of former Detective Sergeant Brad
Shipton and the two of them had consensual group sex with her in about 1986
or 1987.
2004-0214 - NZ Herald - Investigator 'joined
in group sex'
by
Eugene Bingham and Phil Taylor - The scandal over the alleged cover-up of a
claimed police pack-rape deepened last night with fresh allegations of
inappropriate sex in the force - this time against the officer who originally
investigated Louise Nicholas' complaint. The former detective inspector in
charge of the Rotorua CIB, John Dewar, who handled Mrs Nicholas' accusation
that she was raped by three officers, was last night accused, with one of the
alleged rapists, Brad Shipton, of having group sex with another woman
2004-0214 - NZ Herald - Police
officer's job reference prompts questions
by
Phil Taylor - The top police officer accused of the pack rape of a teenager
in the mid-1980s gave a verbal job reference for a detective inspector
accused of failing to properly investigate the complaint. Assistant
Commissioner Clint Rickards, who has been stood down as Auckland's top
policeman pending a commission of inquiry and a new police investigation,
gave the reference for John Dewar when St John hired him as an executive about
two years ago
2004-0214 - NZ Herald - Rob
Robinson worked in Rotorua
by
Patrick Gower - Police Commissioner Rob Robinson worked for a short time as a
policeman in Rotorua, with the officers that Louise Nicholas has accused of
pack rape. Mr Robinson, who was a sergeant in the Rotorua CIB between October
and December 1985, might have to give evidence to the inquiries into the
allegations.
2004-0213 - One News - More
revelations in cop rape case
A
former top detective who investigated police rape claims is now being accused
of having a close relationship with the people he investigated. A Rotorua
woman says she was manipulated into group sex with several officers,
including Clint Rickards and - on one separate occasion - the CIB boss who
later led an inquiry into Rickards' behaviour.
2004-0213 - Otago Daily Times -
Pack rape inquiry widened after further sex allegation
by
Gail Goodger - The criminal investigation into the alleged pack rape of a
woman in Rotorua by three policemen in 1986 is being widened to include
another sexual allegation against two of the men. A woman had contacted
police yesterday saying she wanted to discuss an incident which happened
while she was a schoolgirl on work experience in the 1980s
2004-0213 - Otago Daily Times -
Police inquiry
by Suzanne George - ….the subsequent revelations of an alleged police
cover-up are an indication that males are psychologically incapable of
disciplining other males for sexual misconduct. The inquiry into this matter
should be independent of the police themselves
2004-0213 - Marlborough Express - Police
accountability
Editorial - The public needs to have confidence in its police force. So when
serious allegations are made about the conduct of police, as with the allegations
of pack rape against three police officers, that confidence is shaken, and
the allegations must be thoroughly investigated.
2004-0213 - Dominion Post - Police
sex inquiry widens
by
Philip Kitchin - A former Rotorua teenager says a policeman lured her for sex
to the same house in which Louise Nicholas claims she was pack-raped by three
police officers. The woman, who was about 16 at the time and was on school
job experience wanting to be a policewoman, alleges that Bob Schollum had sex
with her, and that another officer, Brad Shipton, tried to join in. She told
One News last night that the incident, in the 1980s, destroyed her career
ambitions and her trust in police.
2004-0213 - Newstalk ZB - More sex abuse
allegations against police
Another woman comes forward with sex abuse allegations against two of
the officers at centre of Nicholas rape inquiry. Police have confirmed they
are investigating another complaint against two of the officers at the centre
of rape allegations.
2004-0213 - NZ Herald -
New sex claims in police scandal
The woman claims Mr Schollum invited her to go out on patrol but then
seduced her in a police house. She said Mr Shipton walked in the room and
said he was going to join in. The woman said Mr Shipton watched them have sex
for a while and then left.
2004-0212 - Waikato Times - Putting it right
A
story run in last Saturday's Waikato Times about former Hamilton policeman
Rex Miller contained a couple of inaccuracies
2004-0212 - One News - Another sex complaint
against cops
Two policemen accused of rape are now at the centre of allegations
from another woman. Louise Nicholas said she was raped by three policemen in
the 1980s - including Bob Schollum and Brad Shipton. Now another woman, who
wants to remain anonymous, says Schollum had sex with her while fellow
officer Shipton watched.
2004-0210 - Northland Age -
Home again - with mixed emotions
New
March 8 2005
Judith Garrett has worked hard at restoring some balance to her life since
she was allegedly raped by an off-duty officer at the Kaitaia police station
in 1988. She hopes that her recent return to the Far North, which she
continues to regard as home, from Otago, will take her a long way towards
completing that process
2004-0210 - Southland Times - City officer
joins investigation
by
Chalpat Sonti - An Invercargill police officer will be part of a team of
police conducting a criminal investigation of allegations of rape against
three police officers. Southern police district commander Superintendent Nick
Perry, 52, of Dunedin,
has been named to head the team conducting the investigation. Mr Perry said
from Wellington
that three police staff from the southern district had joined him on the
13-strong team.
2004-0210 - Stuff - Restoring public's faith in Police
by
Phil Campbell, Rotorua Review Editor - An investigation into the conduct of
the handling of a case involving three policemen in Rotorua nearly 20 years
ago has riveted the nation. A Ngakuru woman, Louise Nicholas, has claimed
three policemen raped her. Further, Mrs Nicholas claims she was violated by a
police baton.
2004-0210 - Otago Daily Times - Sex claim baffles Nicholas
NZPA - Louise Nicholas, the woman who alleged she was pack-raped by
three policemen, says she is baffled why her former flatmate and friend
claims the sex was consensual. ….The woman, who flatted with Mrs Nicholas
around the time she alleges she was pack-raped by the three police officers,
has told police she believed Mrs Nicholas' sex with the officers was
consensual. She also said both she and Mrs Nicholas had group sex with the
officers. The claims were made in a police statement in 1995 when the
flatmate was spoken to by former detective chief inspector Rex Miller.
2004-0210
- NZ Herald - Police defend top job for Rickards
by
Kevin Taylor, Patrick Gower and Phil Taylor - The Police Commissioner has defended
promoting Clint Rickards to the top Auckland police job despite knowing for
seven years about sexual allegations against him. Mr Rickards is one of the
men at the centre of allegations of a pack-rape in Rotorua in 1986 and
subsequently botched investigations. Prime Minister Helen Clark said the
allegations were a factor in her not recommending him for the job of deputy
commissioner, which requires Government approval, in 2000
2004-0210 - NZ Herald - Rape
inquiry documents relate to different case
by Phil Taylor - Documents provided by a former policeman to show he did a good job
investigating pack-rape allegations against three policemen appear to relate
to another case in which those men were not among the accused. John Dewar, a
former police inspector, is accused by Louise Nicholas of not properly
handling her complaint of a pack rape to cover for the policemen, who were
his colleagues. He provided the Herald and TV3 with documents which he said
showed he had done a good job investigating the matter and had been praised,
including by the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) at the time, Sir John
Jeffries.
2004-0210 - NZ Herald - What Louise
Nicholas says
Louise
Nicholas has alleged that she was raped and violated by three police officers
in Rotorua in 1986 when she was 18 years old, and that another officer
covered up her allegations to protect his colleagues. The men she has named
have vehemently denied the allegations.
2004-0209 - The Press - New beat
Few
would have predicted that the allegations of a police rape would have had
such radical consequences. Within days of the charges being made public last
Saturday, the case is subject to a high powered investigation, as is the
culture of the police force, and the judgment of the commissioner is under
question
2004-0209 - NZ Herald - Queries on
Clint Rickards' business outside police force
by Louisa Cleave - company set up by Assistant Commissioner Clint
Rickards and his partner last year may be part of the Government's commission
of inquiry into the police handling of claims that three officers pack-raped
a woman
2004-0209 - NZ Herald - Steve Long
- 'Professional with a heart'
by Julie Middleton - Steve Long, aged in his early 50s, is a fifth-generation
policeman. But in investigating his own he is taking on one of the tougher
jobs of his career. Long is heading the police investigation into complaints
by Louise Nicholas that she was raped by three police officers in a Rotorua
police house in 1986, when she was 18.
2004-0208 - One News - Nicholas consented:
flatmate
Police say they're likely to interview a former flatmate of Louise
Nicholas again when they re-investigate her allegations that she was
pack-raped by three police officers. The flatmate said in a statement that
Nicholas consented to sex and enjoyed it.
2004-0208 - Sunday Star Times - Only drastic reform will banish
public's fear
by
Jonathan Milne - When Clark announced a commission of inquiry encompassing
the culture within the police, she left the door open to an Australian-style
director of public prosecutions to make decisions too tough for police. She
has been accused of a knee-jerk reaction to one isolated case. But some Kiwis
- like the young Maori protesters at Waitangi - might suggest the Louise
Nicholas case was simply the wake-up call mainstream New Zealand
needed. Undoubtedly, most of our boys and girls in blue throw themselves
wholeheartedly into doing the best job they can. But neither the police, nor
the country as a whole, can afford to have an entire section of the community
in fear of the police.
2004-0208 - Sunday Star Times - We don't know how lucky we are, mate
by
Michael Laws - Yet there were things at home last week that also gave me a
queasy tummy. Like this trial by media of police assistant commissioner Clint
Rickards and two of his former colleagues. You see, I'm one of those
old-fashioned people that presumes innocence until the proof of guilt. I
think the law has gifted us one of the great moral maxims of our time - that
neither accusation nor allegation a criminal makes.
2004-0208 - Sunday Star Times - Undercover
officers risk deep damage
by David Fisher - Undercover work places cops in an anti-women world
of drugs and distorted values. Few officers leave it unscathed. Clint
Rickards was always a survivor
2004-0208 - Sunday Star Times - Pack
Mentality
by David Fisher - "I wonder how easy she would be," a senior
male police officer says to another, referring to a female colleague. The
comment was among those collected by Prue Hyman, a research associate in
gender and women's studies at Victoria
University, in her
police-commissioned study, Women in the CIB, in 2000. Hyman interviewed
dozens of officers and plans to discuss her report with police headquarters,
to discover if it will be put forward to the commission of inquiry
2004-0208 - Sunday Star Times -
Flatmate says Nicholas' sex with cops was consensual
by Rachel Grunwell - A woman who flatted with Louise Nicholas around
the time she alleges she was pack raped by three police officers had told
police she believed Nicholas' sex with these officers was consensual
2004-0207 - NZ Herald - Quiet lives with dark
secrets
Louise Nicholas claims she was pack-raped
by three police officers in the 1980s. Picture / Alan Gibson
by Geoff Cumming, with reporting by Phil Taylor, Jo-Marie Brown, Ainsley
Thomson and Eleanor Black - The police are facing an unprecedented crisis
over allegations of rape against officers. In
this comprehensive report the
Weekend Herald traces how long-buried secrets have come back to life: Louise
Nicholas was getting on with life. She had buried her memories of repeated
rapes by policemen in Murupara, a gang-rape ordeal in Rotorua, the baton, the
inquiries which ran into brick walls……
2004-0207 - Waikato Times - Ex-cop Dewar:
Divisive or a straight shooter?
by Nicola Boyes - John Dewar was the head of the Rotorua CIB and armed
offender squad when he faced scrutiny by his own. Now, nine years on, he has
left the police and is the human resources manager for the midland region of St John ambulance –- but
his conduct as an officer is once again under scrutiny.
2004-0207 - Waikato Times - Miller
himself berated for inquiry that he fronted
by Nicola Boyes - One of the main players in revelations of the
alleged police pack rape of a Rotorua woman suffered his own public berating
following an inquiry he headed. Rex Miller, former Hamilton CIB head,
conducted a Police Complaints Authority investigation in 1995 into the
handling of pack rape allegations by former Rotorua woman Louise Nicholas.
2004-0207 - NZ Herald - Fourth man
key to police rape inquiries
by Phil Taylor - A mysterious "fourth man" said to have
witnessed an alleged pack-rape by police officers could be critical to the
two official inquiries launched this week. The Deputy Police Commissioner's
team investigating Louise Nicholas' claim that she was pack-raped by three
police, including Assistant Commissioner Clint Rickards, is trying to
identify the man she says witnessed it.
2004-0207 - Stuff - Inquiry team
trying to find 'fourth man'
NZPA - An unidentified "fourth man" said to have witnessed
an alleged pack-rape by police officers could be critical to the two official
inquiries launched this week.
2004-0207 - NZ Herald - The rise
and fall of a police chief
by Phil Taylor - John Buchanan Dewar is a man with drive and ambition,
someone for whom success and being recognised as successful are important. He
has always had the appearance of a man who means business. Well-groomed,
dressed to look the part, he was perhaps the only policeman who drove to work
in a Rolls-Royce.
2004-0207 - NZ Herald - How do you
lay a complaint against the police?
by Geoff Cumming - You've been roughed up by police in a case of
mistaken identity; banged up after evidence was planted; or your burglary
complaint has been ignored. Who do you turn to? The police, of course.
2004-0206 - Stuff - Alleged police
rape victim happy to be back in paradise
NZPA - Judith Garrett holds her head high when she walks in Kaitaia, a
Far North town where nasty pamphlets were once displayed accusing her of
crying rape. Ms Garrett, who nearly 16 years ago complained she was
handcuffed and raped by a Kaitaia police officer, moved back to the area just
10 days ago after spending five years being "anonymous" in Otago.
2004-0206 - Stuff - Police told to
keep mum about culture in the force
NZPA - Police have been told to close ranks to media asking questions
following historical rape allegations by Rotorua woman Louise Nicholas. Staff
had been told not to talk about the culture in the force in the past, and
police national headquarters general manager of public affairs Michael Player
had sent staff a memo saying they should not respond to any media requests
for information about what their working lives were like in past decades.
2004-0206 - Stuff - Southern
police boss to head police rape investigation
NZPA - Southern police boss Superintendent Nick Perry is to head the
criminal investigation into the historical rape allegations against three
police officers.
2004-0206 - Otago Daily Times -
Perry to lead investigation of rape claim
by Lea Stewart - Southern police district commander Superintendent
Nick Perry will head the high-profile criminal investigation into the
historical rape allegations against three police officers. Supt Perry (52)
will lead a team of 13 police staff, three of whom also come from the
Southern district. He will answer to deputy commissioner of operations Steve
Long.
2004-0206 - NZ Herald - Gruelling
months await chosen judge for police inquiry
by Kevin Taylor - Whoever heads the police pack-rape commission of
inquiry will be asked to undertake a rigorous and complex probe which may
last all year. Not only will the inquiry delve into police investigations of
Rotorua woman Louise Nicholas' allegations she was pack-raped by three
officers in 1986, but it will also look at the police "culture" in
such cases
2004-0206 - NZ Herald - Police HQ
orders staff to close ranks on past culture in the force
by Jo-Marie Brown and NZPA - Police officers have been warned not to
speak out about the culture that existed within the force at the time Louise
Nicholas says she was pack-raped. In a memo circulated to staff, the general
manager of public affairs at police national headquarters, Michael Player,
said staff should not respond to any media requests for information about
what their working lives were like in past decades
2004-0206 - NZ Herald - 'Slipups'
abort previous trials against police officer on sex charges
by James Gardiner - A series of Rotorua court cases nine years ago
gives a clear idea of the type of concerns Prime Minister Helen Clark had in
mind when she spoke of the need for the commission of inquiry to look at the
culture of the police. A former police officer was tried three times on
charges of indecent assault and sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old girl
living with him as a member of his family and under his care and protection.
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