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Allegations of abuse
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Home / police allegations / Rickards,
Shipton, Schollum vs Jane Doe Page 6 - Further Reaction to
Not Guilty Verdict |
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Suspended Assistant Police
Commissioner Clint Rickards is not welcome back as Mr Hubbard said Mr Rickards'
standard of behaviour was unacceptable and damaged public confidence in the
police. Mr Rickards and two former police
officers Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum were acquitted last week of kidnapping
and indecently assaulting a then 16-year-old girl in Rotorua between 1983 and
1984. Last year the trio were also
acquitted of historic sex charges against Louise Nicholas. Immediately after last week's
verdicts were delivered, Mr Rickards said that he wanted his old job back.
However, the Police Commissioner's office said he would remain suspended
while "employment issues" were worked through. Mr Hubbard said he was considering
writing to the Police Commissioner opposing Mr Rickards' reinstatement. "I don't see how any
policeman could say, `Two of my best friends are in jail for rape, and by the
way I want to be head policeman in Mr Rickards "absolutely
shouldn't" return to his desk because public confidence had been
destroyed. During his evidence against
criminal charges relating to Louise Nicholas, Mr Rickards admitted that he
and Shipton had consensual group sex with her while the two men were police
officers in Rotorua in the 1980s. Former Police Association
president Rob Moodie said at the weekend Mr Rickards' return to work depended
on what proceedings, if any, the police commissioner planned to take against
him. However, going back would be
difficult after he (Mr Rickards) admitted that he had consensual group sex
with Ms Nicholas, Mr Moodie said. "There will be those police
officers who say `he's been tried, he's been acquitted, that's the end of
it'. "But there will also be – and
there will be a considerable number of them – police officers who will not
forgive him for what happened, whether he is acquitted or whatever. "The difficulty for him. . .
is in the Nicholas case the allegations were of group sex by mature males
with a very young girl, and my understanding is the defence was one of
consent. "Now, most people would
regard that as lewd behaviour. Certainly, police officers would regard it as
entirely unacceptable behaviour in a police officer – particularly in a
mature one," he said. The Weekend Herald also reported
at the weekend that Mr Rickards had sex with a woman on the bonnet of a
police car in 1983 and this was one of the "employment issues" top
officers at police national headquarters were referring to when they refused
to reinstate him after his acquittal last week. Police regulations prohibit
disgraceful conduct tending to bring discredit to the police. Mr Hubbard said while Mr Rickards
did not break the law, his behaviour was unbecoming of a senior policeman. Prime Minister Helen Clark
yesterday broke her silence over the case, saying she had been
"absolutely appalled" by the weekend's revelations. "Like most Kiwis, I'm
absolutely appalled at what has been going on and what we're seeing reported
in our media now the suppression orders have been lifted," she said. Deputy Police Commissioner Rob
Pope said the police were moving as quickly as possible to address Mr
Rickards' employment issues but would take some time to complete. It was also revealed in the
weekend a former detective, who originally investigated Ms Nicholas'
allegations, will face trial for conspiring to pervert the course of justice.
John Dewar is due to go on trial later this year. |
