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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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UPDATED REPORT: Police Minister
Annette King has leapt to the defence of police after posters were put up
which she says "slur" their reputation. Ms King said a poster that said a
career in The poster appeared today at
Wellington Railway Station. Former policemen Brad Shipton and
Bob Schollum, and Assistant Police Commissioner Clint Rickards were acquitted
by a jury last week on charges of kidnapping and indecently assaulting a
then-16-year-old girl more than 20 years ago. Last year the same three men were
acquitted of historic sex charges against Rotorua woman Louise Nicholas.
Shipton and Schollum are already in prison for a different rape – of a There has been a public outcry
since that information was made public after court suppression orders were
lifted. But Ms King said it was important
to note that the people who had brought the prosecution against the three men
were police themselves. "I'm asking the people who
put up this poster to think about the huge majority of decent police staff
whom they are damaging and hurting by their ill-considered actions." A group of "But we think they are
brilliant and applaud the people behind them," spokeswoman Lenke
Rochford said. The poster comes as police are trying
to recruit enough staff to fill the 1000 extra positions promised as part of
New Zealand First's support agreement with Labour. Opposition MPs say the recruitment
drive is failing to meet its targets and police are dropping entry standards
in a bid to make up the numbers. - Additional reporting by Fairfax
Media |
