|
Allegations of abuse
by NZ Police |
|
|
peterellis homepage / police allegations / Louise
Nicholas vs John Dewar |
|
|
LATEST: A juror has fallen ill in the High Court trial of the former
head of the Rotorua CIB, John Dewar, and the judge has adjourned the case for
the day. More group
sex claims emerge at cop trial The trial is expected to resume in
Hamilton tomorrow. Before the adjournment the jury
was shown video footage of Rotorua woman Louise Nicholas confronting former
head of the Rotorua CIB, John Dewar, on a Hamilton street. Dewar, 55, is on trial on charges
of attempting to pervert the course of justice, relating to claims of sexual
assault by serving police officers made by Mrs Nicholas in the 1980s. Mrs Nicholas, who has been giving
evidence today, says was raped by Assistant Commissioner Clint Rickards and
former officers Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum. The three men were acquitted
of the charges. She claims Dewar did not properly investigate
the claims. The jury was played covert video
footage of a meeting between Mrs Nicholas and Dewar several years later when
she confronted him outside the Hamilton St John Ambulance building on Seddon
Rd in Hamilton, where he worked. During the conversation Dewar
admitted he knew the alleged incident involving Mr Rickards, Shipton and
Schollum and a police baton. "I certainly know that the
part regarding the baton wasn't consensual. It would be hard to understand
why you would consent to that" Dewar is heard saying on the tape. Mrs Nicholas is this afternoon
under cross-examination by Mr Dewar's lawyer Paul Mabey QC. Mrs Nicholas' mother Barbara
Crawford is expected to give evidence next. Stuff Former senior police officer John
Dewar privately admitted to Louise Nicholas he did not think a sexual assault
on her involving a police baton was consensual, a jury was told today. John Buchanan Dewar, 55, of
Hamilton, is on trial at the High Court in Hamilton on four charges of
attempting to obstruct or defeat the course of justice between 1993 and 1995.
Dewar was chief inspector in the
Rotorua CIB when Mrs Nicholas approached police in 1993 with two historic sex
allegations, including one against suspended assistant police commissioner
Clint Rickards and former policemen Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum. The Crown alleges Dewar suppressed
allegations Mrs Nicholas made against the three men and attempted to pervert
the course of justice during the rape trial of a former policeman, who has
permanent name suppression, by giving inadmissible evidence. After two mistrials, a third trial
led to the former policeman's acquittal. Mrs Nicholas, then Louise
Crawford, said the former policeman, who was not in the police at the time
the complaint was made, had sexually assaulted her when she was 13. Mrs Nicholas also alleged that at
a Rutland Street address in Rotorua Mr Rickards, Schollum and Shipton had
sexually assaulted her and used a baton on her. Dewar denied Mrs Nicholas told him
about the Rutland Street incident or the baton. Mrs Nicholas said she had been
happy to sign a statement in her name, critical of Inspector Rex Miller who
headed the Miller Inquiry into the handling of the mistrials, as she had
found him gruff and did not like dealing with him, in comparison with Dewar
whom she liked. Mrs Nicholas said she had not read
the report and would not have signed it if she had known the statement said
she had not told Dewar about the incident at Rutland Street and the use of
the baton. "I know if it had done that
... I would have corrected it." Mrs Nicholas said she had skimmed
over the report, which she said she had found was filled with lots of
"impressive" words that she would never have used. "But I signed it knowing I
was helping Dewar out." Mrs Nicholas told the court how
after the three trials she had got on with her life. "It was a matter of having
to, I had three little girls to look after. "There was nothing more that
I could do. "John Dewar had done all he
could." Mrs Nicholas said it was not until
2003 when she was approached by reporter Philip Kitchen, that concerns she
had over the mistrials and complaints began to fall into place, causing her
to rethink her opinion of Dewar. In January 2004 Mrs Nicholas
agreed to wear a wire and confront Dewar at his work in an effort to get him
to confess his role in the investigations. In a 2004 video played to the jury
today, in which Mrs Nicholas was wearing a hidden wire and was being videoed,
Dewar made two references to the baton being used on her and to Rutland
Street. Dewar said he did not think the
baton incident had been consensual but said he believed other aspects of her
involvement with Mr Rickards, Shipton and Schollum had been. In the video, Dewar also says the
three men were his mates at the time and still were. Mrs Nicholas said she had been
raped by the men to which Dewar replied she had obviously not got over it. Dewar told her he did not think it
would be helpful rehashing the past and speaking with the media, who had also
approached him about the investigations, saying he did not want to get
involved. Mrs Nicholas told Dewar the men
had "treated me like an animal". "You're not the only
one," Dewar replied. Dewar said the three men had a
reputation for being party animals at the time, and for boozing up. He then cautioned her over
speaking to the media again, as it might not be in her interests. "It could embarrass a lot of
people," she said. "That's a matter for you.
Would it change anything?" he replied. The video was shown on television
in 2004 and sparked a criminal investigation. After a break the defence was
continuing its cross-examination of Mrs Nicholas. |
