|
Allegations of abuse
by NZ Police |
|
|
peterellis
Home / police allegations / Rickards,
Shipton, Schollum vs Jane Doe Page 1 - 2007 Trial of
Rickards, Shipton, Schollum Week 1 |
|
|
Suspended assistant police
commissioner Clint Rickards told a court in Rickards, 46, and former policemen
Brad Shipton, 48, and Bob Schollum, 54, deny kidnapping and indecently
assaulting the then 16-year-old girl between November 1983 and August 1984. Rickards took the stand in his
defence at the Auckland High Court today. Rickards said he had knee surgery
in October 1983 which left him in a full-length plaster cast from the top of
his right thigh to the bottom of his ankle. Claims he had been at a cafe over
the road from the Rotorua police station or at the Cobb and Co socialising,
could not have been true as he was not mobile , he said. Rickards said he was on crutches
until about January 23rd or 24th and was "still limping quite badly
because my knee would not straighten up". It was a "physical
impossibility" for him to have gone out socialising during his recovery
, he said. Rickards told the court he was a
uniformed police officer and would not have been in plain clothes as the
woman alleges. When asked by his lawyer John
Haigh QC if Rickards had ever met the woman, he replied "I have no
recollection, whatsoever of meeting (her)." Rickards also said he did not get
to know Shipton until 1984. "He was a fellow police
officer, both junior in the service and he was someone I would occasionally
talk to." Mr Rickards may have had a drink
with Shipton at the police bar or elsewhere, he said but not while he was in
a cast and on crutches. Rickards said he did not remember
meeting Schollum until 1984 but he was not a "friend who I would go out
socialising with". When asked about the alleged
incident Rickards said he could not speak for the woman. After listening to the woman's
evidence Rickards said it led him to the "conclusion she was
lying". Mr Haigh asked if it was possible
it was true. "I wasn't there." "So handcuffing her, the
whole scenario – true or false?" "False." "Did ever such an incident
occur which you were involved in?" "Again the incidents she
talks of, I definitely wasn't there. Brent Stanaway QC accused
Rickards, under cross-examination, of coming up with examples to support
himself. "I've told the truth of the
questions asked of me," Rickards replied. Mr Stanaway, in an increasingly
tense exchange with Rickards, said he had sought to improve his case. "I have given you an
explanation to your questions," Rickards replied. Mr Stanaway said due to Rickards
undercover work, he had to be a "very practised liar". "To the criminal fraternity,
yes." "You had to lie on a daily
basis," Mr Stanaway asked. "Yes, I did." Rickards had testified over 100
times in the course of his work making him a "very practised
witness", Mr Stanaway said. "It was required of me to
give evidence of truth, at those trials which I did." Mr Stanaway challenged Rickards on
his relationships with Shipton and Schollum saying he was using new
information to make it seem he did not socialise with them as much as he
actually did. "It's not new, it's the
truth." Under further questioning Rickards
said it was possible the woman had seen him, but he had not met or seen her. When asked if Rickards accepted
the possibility the incident could have happened, he replied: " I do not
know what incident (the woman) is talking about. If such an incident did
occur, I wasn't there." "So you are allowing for the
possibility it did occur?" Mr Stanaway asked. "Given I have heard her
evidence over two days and the inconsistencies that she has relayed,
especially in relation to me, I believe there is no substance in what she has
to say." "If the event occurred, your
case is, you weren't there?" "That's correct." Former All Black Steve McDowell a
childhood friend of Rickards testified for the defence, saying he had visited
Rickards while he was in the plaster cast. McDowell told the court he
remembered Rickards having a cast on through Christmas and remembered a
second cast , which had a hinge, allowing the knee to move. "He could not support himself
without a crutch and it was sometime into the New Year when he could walk
freely." Orthopedic surgeon Dr Barry
Tietjens told the court he had signed medical records declaring Rickards fit
to return to police work on December 21 1983 for "selective work"
but was not fit to return to full duties until February 1984. Shipton's wife Sharon took the
stand in her husband's defence, telling the court her husband had a moustache
during the time the complainant had said he was clean shaven. Mrs Shipton said her husband had a
moustache from late 1982 or early 1983 for over a decade. "He had it for more than a
decade without being removed." Under cross-examination Mrs
Shipton described the relationship between themselves, Schollum and his wife
Judy and the Rickards at the time as "good friends". The trial resumes on Monday, with
Mrs Shipton expected to continue being cross examined. |
