NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

'I was shaking like a leaf'

By Carolyne Meng-Yee
Herald on Sunday·
22 Nov, 2008 03:00 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Donna Johnson. Photo / Paul Estcourt
Donna Johnson. Photo / Paul Estcourt

Donna Johnson. Photo / Paul Estcourt

KEY POINTS:

Convicted rapist Brad Shipton - released on parole last week - will find his true sentence has only just started, say two of his alleged victims.

Donna Johnson says she is no longer afraid of Shipton, even though she is furious about what she sees as a complete failure of the justice system.

Shipton was last week paroled to his parents' home in Bethlehem, on the outskirts of Tauranga, the same suburb where Johnson and her two daughters live.

She thinks she may have already seen Shipton travelling around and she says his parents eyeballed her in the local supermarket on Thursday.

"I was standing at the checkout shaking like a leaf trying to get my card out. It was so awkward and uncomfortable. So as soon as I got out of there I was in the carpark, panicking [and wondering] if he was in the car with them. Then I thought 'well I have to get used to this won't I?"'

Johnson has alleged Shipton, then a serving police officer, came to her house in 1995 and forced her to perform an oral sex act on him. She knew Shipton from the mid-80s when her mother flatted with him in Rotorua and he questioned her over allegations her grandfather sexually abused her.

Johnson also claims police intimidated her into not laying a complaint about Shipton after the alleged incident in 1995. Police did not lay charges in relation to the alleged incident. Shipton was later found guilty of kidnapping and raping another woman at Mt Maunganui in 1989, for which he received 8 years in prison. He was found not guilty by another jury of the alleged rape of Louise Nicholas.

"For so many years he frightened me, he intimidated me, he made me feel worthless, he made me feel like I am a victim," says Johnson. "I am not the victim - he is the victim now."

She says Shipton has always proclaimed he cannot recall the alleged 1995 incident. "If I run into him, I will remind him that [it] is high time he can recall."

She would not turn away from him in the street, and all she wanted was an apology. She says his true sentence will start now.

"His sentence will start from the moment he walks up [Tauranga's main street] Devonport Rd. He used to think he owned that road as a city councillor - he would trot up and down like he owned the road. Let's see if he gets the same reaction now. The only thing that keeps me going now is that I know that people in this town will go up to him and say certain things to his face that he won't want to hear."

She says she can't forgive Shipton. "He and his family have humiliated us and portrayed us [she and other alleged victims] as liars.

"Why has the Parole Board and the Corrections Department not pushed him to admit the truth - and his guilt? I don't think he has even contemplated a recovery if he is not going to admit what he has done."

Shipton's mother, Lorraine, said yesterday she was "very pleased" to have her son home.

"I can categorically say to you, I don't even hate these women. I just feel there have been some very unfortunate circumstances that have surrounded all of us."

"The one thing that I can say is that he has the ongoing support of his family. I feel that no matter what we say it's not going to change people's attitudes."

A Parole Board spokeswoman acknowledged Johnson and Louise Nicholas had written to the board. "Because they weren't registered victims, the letters were just considered submissions from the public."

Despite his release, Shipton was described in the Parole Board decision as "manipulative". It said he had made inconsistent and incompatible statements and was at times untruthful.

In a statement, Parole Board chairman Judge David Carruthers said: "The system for registering victims is a robust and thorough one, enabling these victims to give their views to the board - and allowing the board to then make conditions specific to the registered victims' concerns. In this case the registered victim and her nominated supporters were interviewed by the board, and their views taken into account."

The Mt Maunganui victim, who has name suppression, told Radio New Zealand that Shipton should not have been released.

"He has refused to get any kind of help because he won't admit the offence, so we have got an untreated rapist about to be set free into your community."

Another of Shipton's alleged victims - the woman who was to be the central witness in former Assistant Commissioner Clint Rickards' police disciplinary meeting - said she was furious the Parole Board did not classify her as a victim. "He [Shipton] makes me very angry with what he put other women and myself through. I believe he has done his time, but I do think his sentence is only starting."

She said she met Shipton after the death of her husband in a car crash. Shipton was in the police and had visited her.

"I was not in a position to give consent because of the loneliness and grief ... I was extremely vulnerable."

She wanted Rickards - whom she accused of having sex with her on the bonnet of a police car - to go through the disciplinary process because she believed she was a strong witness. "I personally find him intimidating."

A third alleged victim, who also can't be named but who accused Shipton of raping her with a bottle, said: "He has to admit what he's done so we don't look like liars. That's the biggest thing. I will never fight for anything like this again because they win every time."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

Herald NOW

Herald NOW Weather Update: May 29 2025

Herald NOW

Herald NOW Sports Update: May 29 2025

Herald NOW

Herald NOW News Update: May 29 2025

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Recommended for you
Russia to present peace terms to Ukraine at Istanbul talks
World

Russia to present peace terms to Ukraine at Istanbul talks

28 May 06:42 PM
Pedestrian dies after being hit by car in Christchurch
New Zealand

Pedestrian dies after being hit by car in Christchurch

28 May 06:36 PM
100km/h wind gusts: Rain, thunderstorms forecast for Auckland, Northland
New Zealand

100km/h wind gusts: Rain, thunderstorms forecast for Auckland, Northland

28 May 06:22 PM
Dozens of charges: Tate brothers face serious UK allegations
World

Dozens of charges: Tate brothers face serious UK allegations

28 May 06:11 PM
Netanyahu claims key Hamas leader killed
World

Netanyahu claims key Hamas leader killed

28 May 06:07 PM

Latest from New Zealand

Herald NOW Weather Update: May 29 2025

Herald NOW Weather Update: May 29 2025

Herald NOW Weather Update: May 29 2025. Video / Herald NOW

Herald NOW Sports Update: May 29 2025

Herald NOW Sports Update: May 29 2025

Herald NOW News Update: May 29 2025

Herald NOW News Update: May 29 2025

Pedestrian dies after being hit by car in Christchurch

Pedestrian dies after being hit by car in Christchurch

28 May 06:36 PM
Explore the hidden gems of NSW
sponsored

Explore the hidden gems of NSW

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search