Allegations of abuse by NZ Police
	peterellis Home / police allegations / Rickards, Shipton, Schollum vs Jane Doe Page 3 - 2007 Trial of Rickards, Shipton, Schollum - Verdict Not Guilty
	The Dominion Post March 2 2007; 5:00 Sobs and gasps greet not guilty verdicts by Michael Field END OF 'NIGHTMARE': Suspended Assistant Police Commissioner Clint Rickards outside the High Court in Auckland after being cleared of kidnap and indecent assault. He said the police case against him 'was an investigation I would have been ashamed to have led. It was a shambles'. In an emotion-packed one minute 23 seconds, one of the country's grimmest sex trials - involving a top policeman and two others - ended with the words "not guilty" declared six times. As the chant continued, the High Court room in Auckland filled with gasps and sobs while the three men on trial wept. Cleared was Auckland Assistant Commissioner Clint Rickards, 46, and former police colleagues Brad Shipton, 48, and Bob Schollum, 54, of charges of kidnapping and indecently assaulting a 16-year-old girl in Rotorua between November 1983 and August 1984. That now 39-year-old woman was in the small packed courtroom to hear the verdicts. A year ago, the same three men were found not guilty of 20 rape and sexual abuse charges against Louise Nicholas, in 1985 and 1986. What the two juries had not known was that Shipton and Schollum are serving prison sentences on two charges of rape, one of abduction and one of sexual violation. All details of their trial in August 2005 were suppressed. Yesterday Justice Judith Potter rescinded that order. In the latest trial, the jury of eight men and four women retired to consider their verdict at 1.20pm on Wednesday. They returned to court just after midday yesterday. As the three defendants arrived, their accuser watched from a side door. Starting with Mr Rickards, the court registrar asked the jury foreman: "Do you find the accused guilty or not guilty on count one of the kidnap of ..." The foreman replied strongly: "Not guilty." Mr Rickards half-punched the air, but he looked emotionally drained and he was crying. The kidnap charges against Shipton and Schollum were read out and each time the "not guilty" verdict came back. Loud sobs could be heard and people in the packed gallery began to hug each other. Shipton and Schollum were weeping. When the registrar asked the foreman for their verdict on the second charge against each man, of indecent assault, more not guilty replies followed. The sound of raw emotion from the 30 or so family in court, and as three big men cried, nearly drowned out the foreman. The woman who accused them looked distraught. She left the court without comment. Justice Potter then spoke to the three men: "You have been found not guilty on both counts in the indictment, please stand down." After three years of inquiries and trials, one man was free. The other two remain prisoners. Sharon Shipton, in the public gallery, called out to her husband "love you, Brad". As the judge left the court the three men shook hands and were escorted back to the holding room where two of them were to return to jail in Wanganui, while Mr Rickards joined the large numbers of supporters and media outside.