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The Listener
October 25, 2003
Child abuse and the experts
John Read
Lynley Hood (Letters, October 11) claims I "misrepresented" her
views about the relevance of Christchurch being flat to the Ellis case, Her
claim, like many of the claims in her book, rests on citing, out of context,
one small piece of reality (in this case her Edwards at Large interview, TVl, August 16) while ignoring
anything that doesn't fit her claim, Here is the rest of what happened in
that interview:
Brian Edwards (quoting from Hood's
book): "The flatness of the city makes it easy for anyone with a bright
idea to gather together enough like-minded people to turn the theory, be it
dazzlingly enlightened or downright flaky, into action." What on earth
can the flatness of the city have to do with Peter Ellis's guilt or
innocence?
Hood: I'm just saying that it
allows movements to get into motion and it always has.
Edwards: I don't understand that.
What, because you can drive a car more easily from one side of Christchurch to
another? Is that what you are saying?
Hood: Yes. Yes. You can have a
committee meeting much easier. There are all these national bodies, you know,
starting with the suffragettes, can get organised much easier in Christchurch because
it's flat than you can in a hilly place. That's all I'm saying.
Edwards: Look, you're smiling.
Don't you see an element of absurdity in what you're telling me here?
Hood: No.
(Presumably Hood's strange logic makes sense, as Professor Corballis says
that she has "a scientific background".)
Hood even acknowledged that she had gone to Christchurch because she had been told that
there was a case of "mass hysteria" going on there. As Edwards
pointed out, this meant she had prejudged the entire issue before she got
there.
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The Listener
November 8, 2003
Child abuse and the experts
Lynley Hood
John
Read (Letters, October 25) is desperate. He can find nothing of substance to
attack in A City Possessed. This is because I have got it right. I have
demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt that the pre-school scandal that ripped Christchurch apart and
threw the nation into turmoil was based on a bungled investigation into a
crime that never happened.
But Read has staked his reputation on the discredited beliefs and practices
that made the creche case possible. So, in his desperation to attack me, he
seizes on a couple of peripheral points. Then, like Brian Edwards in his
infamous interview with me, he misrepresents those points and attacks the
misrepresentation. By their conduct, Read and Edwards discredit only
themselves.
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