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Home / police allegations / Rickards,
Shipton, Schollum vs Jane Doe Page 2 - 2007 Trial of
Rickards, Shipton, Schollum Week 2 |
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The prosecution has closed its
case against the suspended Assistant Police Commissioner and two former
police officers by describing the evidence presented on the men's behalf as a
pack of lies. Clint Richards, Brad Shipton and
Bob Schollum are on trial for kidnapping and indecent assault dating back
more than 20 years in Rotorua. Today the cousin of Brad Shipton's
wife gave evidence which contradicts the former police officer's alibi, after
she was flown in from Australia to take the stand. Christine Filer told the court she
cannot recall Sharon and Brad Shipton staying with her in Wanganui for a
month in 1984. Mrs Shipton earlier told the court that was the case. However,
Christine Filer says she would remember a visit of that length. She also
claims Mrs Shipton called her last week and told her she did not have to
answer any questions from police and it was best she stayed away on holiday. It comes after Mrs Shipton broke
down on the witness stand this morning, likening her husband's trial to
something from a mad movie. She was recalled by the Crown this morning after
appearing yesterday, when she told the court she did not lie to cover for her
husband. Crown prosecutor Brent Stanaway
accused Mrs Shipton of calling her cousin in Australia and asking her to lie
about the holiday. Mr Stanaway also accused her of asking her cousin to stay
in Perth away from her home in Brisbane so that police could not track her down. Mrs Shipton then burst into tears
saying "as God strikes me down, I did not say such a thing." Brad Shipton also wiped away tears
as his wife sobbed and said "I swear on my own daughter's life I'm
telling the truth." Mrs Shipton is a project leader at
the Ministry of Justice in Wellington and is the only witness called in
defence of her husband. In his closing address prosecutor
Brent Stanaway called the alleged assault vile. He says the complainant was
just 16-years-old and assaulted by burly policemen in a small town where
police were held in high regard. Mr Stanaway told the jury the three accused
"have cooked up a pack of lies to help their case" and it needs to
see passed them. Brad Shipton's defence says the
woman accusing him of indecent assault has told so many lies she cannot be
believed. His lawyer told the jury in his closing address his client has
denied indecently assaulting the woman right from the outset. In his closing address, Clint
Rickards' lawyer John Haig QC told the jury, "there are so many
inconsistencies in the complainant's evidence, she cannot be believed."
Mr Haig says if the assault did happen, there is no way his client was
involved. He says the complainant could not recognise Rickards from a photo -
and adds his client was on plaster and crutches at the time the incident is
alleged to have occurred. He says Rickards' future is on a knife edge and the
allegations are categorically untrue. Bob Schollum's lawyer will deliver
his closing address tomorrow morning, after which the judge will sum up. |
