Brooke accuser wants justice done

Robin Brooke. Photo / Getty Images

The woman at the centre of the Robin Brooke sex scandal is expected to discuss a formal complaint with top police officers in the next few days.

And it has emerged police received two phone calls earlier this year about the former All Black.

The woman claims she was just 18 when she woke to find Brooke having sex with her after a test match against Australia in Christchurch in 1998.

Brooke, who played 62 tests, has gone to ground since the explosive allegations emerged this week.

TVNZ current affairs show Close Up revealed the teenage girl and two flatmates from the time have signed affidavits alleging Brooke refused to stop having sex with the teenager - and left the house only after they called police.

Close Up producer Mike Valintine said the young woman was receiving advice on whether to lay a formal complaint.

"I have put her in touch with Assistant Commissioner Grant Nicholas so he can outline the process to her.

"Obviously she has no idea what is involved. It can be a pretty brutal process."

Valintine said the woman stood by her claims "100 per cent" and was giving serious thought to following through with a complaint.

"There is certainly no sense that she is backing down from what she has said at all. She wants to see justice done.

"Obviously this has been a major event which has affected her deeply. She has hidden this for a number of years."

Brooke was thought to be at his family home in Tauranga last night but would not come to the door. A car registered to former team-mate Craig Innes arrived at the property yesterday afternoon.

A manager at Brooke's New World supermarket in the city said he had gone on holiday for a few weeks.

Foodstuffs launched an inquiry into the allegations, casting doubt on whether Brooke's move to buy a larger New World in Warkworth will go ahead.

The All Black and Auckland rugby star of the 1990s was a director and the celebrity face of Eat For Keeps, a weight loss and healthy eating programme.

It is understood he relinquished his shares in the business about three weeks ago.

A source close to Brooke said his former business partners were going into "damage control".

"This is really disturbing, it could be the tip of the iceberg."

The latest claims followed Brooke's tearful televised apology for groping a teenage girl in Fiji and hitting a teenage boy who tried to intervene.

The mother of the Auckland schoolgirl Brooke assaulted in Fiji said her daughter was "pretty upset" when she heard about the latest allegations.

"It was really difficult for us. We were thinking we had put all this behind us."

She said they "really admired" the courage of the woman who came forward with this week's claims and she was not surprised other people had made allegations against Brooke.

Well-placed sources have told the Herald on Sunday the Auckland Sexual Abuse Team was contacted this year with other allegations about Brooke.

The calls were made as the team helped Fijian police with their inquiry into the groping claims.

The source said the information was broad and anecdotal and offered investigators "nothing concrete" to follow up.

Police have promised to investigate any complaint laid by the woman but prominent legal experts said they could start an inquiry without one.

Auckland lawyer Barry Hart said police investigated a large number of historic sex cases and could make a case against Brooke on their own.

"They don't even have to have a formal complaint. Usually they wouldn't be confident prosecuting without having a complainant," he said.

"If criminal offending is allegedly being carried out and they've got evidence they can go ahead and prosecute. There is no time bar on it at all, and the fact that a settlement was reached will not stand in the way of it."

Retired criminal lawyer Peter Williams, QC, said police could act on the information screened on Close Up but would have a tough time getting the case to court.

"If the complainant is unwilling to make a statement it makes the job of the police very difficult. I think he's probably had enough punishment now with the publicity."

Christchurch defence lawyer and former prosecutor Jonathan Eaton said when a serious crime was identified police had an obligation to investigate and prosecute, even if the victim was unwilling.

"But I don't see any prospect of a prosecution getting off the ground. You can't force people to make a complaint, you can't force witnesses to provide information."

Canterbury University associate law professor Cynthia Hawes said the chances of convicting Brooke without the victim's cooperation were "slim".

"There have been cases where people have made allegations of assault and then not wanted to go ahead with it, but the prosecution has gone ahead if there's enough evidence. But if no complaint is made at all, it's not likely."

Victim advocate Louise Nicholas said the woman would need support to come forward and make a complaint.

"I think clearly there is an obvious pattern of behaviour for this guy - he needs help big time, to be honest. It would be cool if he just stepped up and acknowledged what he has done and didn't put anybody through this.

"And if others do come forward - he has to acknowledge he needs help."

A spokeswoman for Police National Headquarters said "strenuous efforts" had been made to find any record of the calls made earlier this year, but Auckland police had "no knowledge" of them.

"It's important that anyone who believes that they have been the victim of a sexual assault can approach us and know that the claim will be investigated fully."

Waitress sickened by Brooke's comment

A waitress at Robin Brooke's stag do said she was still sickened by the one sentence the All Black uttered to her that night.

"He lurched over the bar, leered at me and said 'show me your box'."

The woman, who did not want to be named, added: "It was the only thing he said to me all night."

The stag party was held at the now defunct Oval bar in Ponsonby before Brooke married former Blues cheerleader Hayley Cosgrove in 1996.

A number of All Blacks attended, including Brooke's brother Zinzan and Sean Fitzpatrick.

The woman said she recognised several of the top All Blacks at the function.

"I wasn't knowledgeable about rugby, but I knew they were All Blacks. I recognised Sean Fitzpatrick as the captain, and the owner was all excited because the All Blacks were coming.

"It was just me and a barman working. They were on their best behaviour initially, but they ignored the staff. They got progressively drunker and drunker."

The woman said two female strippers were hired. "Sean Fitzpatrick left before the strippers arrived, I called him a taxi. One of the women was really young, about 19, and she was really nervous. There was a lot of leering and yahooing going on. I remember a bit of groping ... Robin Brooke seemed a little bit embarrassed initially, but I remember he had a little grope."

The younger stripper was too nervous to finish her performance, so the other woman, in her mid 20s, took over. After they finished they went to the bar for a drink.

"The men were basically abusing them and wanting them out. The atmosphere was really charged, I found it a little bit scary. I found the whole thing really intimidating, walking amongst them."

She said she was "stunned" after Brooke made the comment to her.

She said she saw Zinzan behaving well at the bar and said to him: 'Why can't they all be like you?'

"I saw Robin Brooke in a women's magazine a couple of weeks later, smiling with his beautiful wife and I thought 'what you don't know'."

The woman said she would never forget what Brooke said to her.

"I'd gone out of my way to make his stag do really special. And that's all he had to say to me. He made me feel like me and the two strippers ... all we were were 'boxes'. That's all it came down to for him."

anna.leask@hos.co.nz