|
Allegations of abuse
by NZ Police |
|
|
peterellis
Home / police allegations / Rickards,
Shipton, Schollum vs Jane Doe Page 4 - Initial Reaction to
Not Guilty Verdict |
|
|
The police force is being warned
it will have a fight on its hands if it tries to get rid of suspended
assistant commissioner Clint Rickards. Mr Rickards has been cleared of kidnapping
and indecently assaulting a 16-year-old girl in Rotorua in the 1980s. It was
the second trial he has faced over three years with a total of 10 charges. Police National Headquarters says
he will not be fully reinstated until employment issues have been dealt with,
but Mr Rickards' lawyer John Haigh QC says his client will resort to the
courts over employment matters if needs be. Yesterday after Mr Rickards and
co-accused Bob Schollum and Brad Shipton were acquitted, Mr Rickards
criticised the police investigation into his case, but Mr Haigh says those
comments show the stress he was under. "I think you've got to put
that into the perspective of the three years that he's been under intense
strain from an intensive investigation which I think lacked objectivity." Mr Haigh says Mr Rickards has the
highest respect for the police, which has been his career from the word go
and he wants to get back to work. Shipton and Schollum are back in
jail serving sentences for the pack rape of a woman at Mt Maunganui in the
late 1980s. The information was released after suppression orders in force
during the latest trial were lifted. There has been criticism that the jury
in yesterday's case should have known about the imprisonment, but Shipton's
lawyer Bill Nabney says the suppression orders were in place to ensure the
men got a fair trial and he believes they did. He says his client did not
oppose the release of the information. Mr Nabney says members of the
Shipton family are extremely relieved and happy there is now some finality
and that police have confirmed there are no other investigations pending. |
