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Allegations of abuse
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Nicholas vs John Dewar |
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A High Court jury in Hamilton was
told yesterday of breaches of police protocol by former Rotorua CIB head John
Dewar, in dealing with claims of police sexual offending by Louise Nicholas. Dewar, 55, has denied four charges
of attempting to obstruct or defeat the course of justice in relation to
Louise Nicholas' claims of sexual offending by police in the 1980s. Retired Detective Chief Inspector
Rex Miller was asked to investigate Dewar's investigative procedures and
conduct after Dewar gave twice gave hearsay evidence at the trial of a former
police officer accused of sex offences against Mrs Nicholas at Murupara. Both trials were abandoned, and at
a third trial, the officer was acquitted and given permanent name
suppression. In the first trial Dewar told the
court of another police officer who said he was prepared to lie to help the
officer on trial, and in the second he revealed details of an investigation
into Mrs Nicholas' allegations of sexual offending against her by officers
including Mr Rickards, Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum. Dewar had headed the investigation
into Mrs Nicholas' allegations against the officer at Murupara. Yesterday Mr
Miller told the court he was surprised at the lack of information in the
prosecution file. "The file, for an inquiry of
that nature, I'd describe it as being very thin, and lacking substance. There
was a lack of corroborative evidence on the file, and I just found it was far
too vague for an inquiry of that nature. "On the face of it (the
officer) was arrested on uncorroborated evidence", he said. Mr Miller also said he was unable
to find any file, jobsheet, statement or report relating to Mrs Nicholas'
allegations of rape against Clint Rickards, Shipton and Schollum. Mr Miller said Dewar should never
have been involved with investigating Mrs Nicholas claims against Mr
Rickards, Shipton and Schollum, as he was of the same rank as Mr Rickards. "The right protocol would
have been for him to have disqualified himself from that investigation, being
the same rank as one of the persons being investigated". A statement Dewar was alleged to
have convinced Mrs Nicholas to sign and give to Mr Miller for his
investigation, saying she had not told him of her allegations against Mr
Rickards, Shipton and Schollum, damaged her credibility. "The statement put her
credibility right on the line, and destroyed it, basically. "There was insufficient
evidence to prosecute them. . .her credibility had been put in issue. All of
a sudden she produces a statement saying it didn't happen", Mr Miller
said. Acting superintendent Russell
Gibson, who was head of police internal affairs at the time of the two
aborted trials, was surprised Dewar never told him of Mrs Nicholas'
allegations against Mr Rickards, Shipton and Schollum after he raised them at
the second trial. "Those are very serious
allegations which would require investigation – we would have started an
inquiry. I would have driven it from internal affairs", he said. Mr Gibson said any investigation
should probably have been started by Dewar. "I don't know who should have
done it, but certainly, probably Detective Inspector Dewar at that initial
stage, getting a statement from her (Mrs Nicholas)". The prosecution is expected to
close its case on Friday. The trial, before Justice Hansen, is set to run
until the end of next week. |
