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Home / police allegations / Rickards,
Shipton, Schollum vs Jane Doe Page 3 - 2007 Trial of
Rickards, Shipton, Schollum - Verdict Not Guilty |
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Sharon Shipton will continue to
stand by her husband, despite his being in jail for raping one woman and
admitting to having slept with two others. Mrs Shipton, who was accused of
lying on the stand, appeared to be in shock yesterday as husband Brad was
acquitted on charges of kidnapping and indecent assault in the mid 1980s. She gasped and sobbed and took
time with her family before speaking to the media outside the courtroom. "I'm happy with the outcome,
it's the right outcome and Brad's family and myself are just thrilled. It was
always the outcome I anticipated," she said. Mrs Shipton said she stood by her
husband, who has been before the courts in three different sex trials. Last year, he was found not guilty
of raping Rotorua woman Louise Nicholas, but the year before that he was
convicted for the rape in 1989 of a 20-year-old Mt Maunganui woman. During the Louise Nicholas case
Shipton admitted having sex with her, but said it was not rape. In the most
recent case, his lawyer did not challenge evidence that Shipton had had a
consensual relationship with the complainant. But his apparent history of
cheating did not stop Mrs Shipton from taking the stand to give evidence in
support of her husband during his latest trial. She said they were on a month-long
holiday during the time of the alleged offending, but that evidence was later
contradicted by a cousin. Yesterday, when asked by the
Herald if she was pleased she had stood by her husband in the witness stand,
Mrs Shipton replied: "Absolutely, absolutely. I have stood by my husband
every step of the way and that will continue. "What I can say is that the
verdicts speak for themselves - I told the truth." When pushed further and asked,
"Do the verdicts from Mt Maunganui speak for themselves?" Mrs
Shipton refused to answer and walked off. Before the verdicts, Mrs Shipton
was not so confident. She sat nervously in the public gallery, wiping her
eyes as the jury walked into the courtroom. A family friend rubbed her
shoulders as she tried to control her breathing. As the verdicts were read out, Mrs
Shipton looked like she was hyperventilating. Once she had calmed down, she
mouthed "thank you" to the jurors. * Detective Senior Sergeant
Stephen McGregor, who was the officer in charge of the latest case, refused
to comment when asked if police were considering charging Mrs Shipton with
either perjury or perverting the course of justice. Crown prosecutor Brent Stanaway,
who reduced Mrs Shipton to tears and described her evidence as "a pack
of lies", also declined to comment. |
