Allegations of abuse by NZ Police
	peterellis Home / police allegations / Rickards, Shipton, Schollum vs Jane Doe Page 6 - Further Reaction to Not Guilty Verdict
	Radio NZ March 6 2007; 07:52 PM says issue of what juries can be told warrants further attention The Prime Minister says the issue of what juries should be told needs to be re-examined. Last week Assistant Police Commissioner Clint Rickards was acquitted of 1980s sex charges - along with two former policemen, Bob Schollum and Brad Shipton. Suppression orders prevented the jury being told that both Schollum and Shipton are serving sentences as convicted rapists. Given the resulting public controversy, Helen Clark says the issue definitely warrants further attention and one option is to ask the Law Commission to look into it. The Law Commission says it would be happy to take up the matter, if requested by the Government. However, Commission president Sir Geoffrey Palmer says making such a significant change around the processes that juries follow, needs careful consideration. Witch-hunt A former MP says Mr Rickards is the victim of a witch-hunt and should be allowed to return to his job as Auckland district police commander. The Police Commissioner's Office says Mr Rickards will remain suspended while employment issues are worked through, which it says will take some time. Former Alliance MP and media commentator Willie Jackson says comments since then by Mr Rickards comments were inappropriate, but he has been acquitted and should be forgiven. Mr Jackson says Mr Rickards has become the sacrificial lamb in an inquiry into police culture. Court cases Mr Rickards and two former officers were found not guilty on Thursday of kidnapping and indecently assaulting a woman in Rotorua between November 1983 and August 1984. The complainant was 16 at the time. It was the third in a series of trials involving police officers. Last year, a jury cleared Mr Rickards and two former officers of 20 charges of sexual violation and indecent assault against Rotorua woman Louise Nicholas in 1986. The jury of seven women and five men delivered its verdict on 31 March, 2006 after three days of deliberations following a 2½-week trial in the High Court at Auckland. Following the latest acquittals by a jury of eight men and four women in the High Court at Auckland last week, it was revealed the two former policemen were convicted rapists who are still serving jail terms. Suppression orders were lifted, revealing Shipton and Schollum were two of four men sent to prison for eight years in 2005 for the abduction and rape of a woman in Mt Maunganui in 1989.