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Allegations of abuse
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peterellis homepage / police allegations / Louise
Nicholas vs John Dewar |
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Former senior police officer John
Dewar has denied covering up rape allegations from Louise Nicholas. Dewar, a former detective
inspector, took the stand at the High Court in Hamilton in his own defence on
Monday and said Nicholas was not telling the truth. Dewar took his oath to tell the
truth with the same vigour he denies covering up sex allegations against his
police mates Clint Rickards, Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum. "I categorically refute that
allegation. I have always carried out my duties according to my oath without
fear or favour," Dewar told the court. The former detective inspector
also says the trio were not his close friends and that Nicholas never pushed
a complaint. "They weren't known to me.
But even if they were it wouldn't have made any difference to the decision
that I would have made. If a complaint had been made to me I would have acted
on it, I would have investigated," he said. And Dewar said if there was
sufficient evidence to justify it, he would have charged them too. He
told the court of other good friends he had investigated and charged in his
police career, even his own uncle. Evidence at the trial has been
given by a woman who says Dewar had been involved in group sex sessions as
well. "I will never forget Friday
the 13th of February in 2004," Dewar said. "I returned home
to see the six o'clock news on Television One, and there was this pixelated
face of a woman with a distorted voice saying that I had had sex with her and
Shipton. I had no idea of the identity of the woman but I did know that I'd
never had group sex with Shipton and any woman." Nicholas has always maintained she
did tell Dewar about the sex allegations against Rickards, Shipton and
Schollum the first time they met in 1993. But Dewar says the first he heard
about them was during the trial of another policeman facing similar
allegations. "It's an issue of judgement.
The fact that I didn't follow internal procedures doesn't make me a bad cop,
doesn't make me a criminal. I'm the guy at the end of the shovel," Dewar
said |
