'Justice done' in broomstick retrial, say police

The "Broomstick Boys" retrial, which resulted in six convictions, confirmed justice had been done in the first place, said the police officer in charge of the case.

Outside the High Court at Wellington, Detective Geoff Scott of Napier said he was pleased with the result, although he acknowledged the retrial had been difficult for the victim and his family.

"It was not an easy thing for a young man to stand up and verbalise what had happened to him ... but he's done it well and with dignity," Mr Scott said.

The former Taradale High School students cried as five of them were found guilty of sexual violation after a broomstick smeared with Vicks VapoRub was forced into the anus of a schoolmate at a drunken party in October 2001.

Kent Russell Burns, Daniel Martin Cutbill, Mark Peter Hagen, Anthony Richard Lloyd and Gabriel Williams, all 19, were convicted of sexual violation.

Rewi John Gemmell, 18, was found guilty of a lesser alternative charge of indecent assault. Hagen and Lloyd were also found guilty of attempted sexual violation.

The six were remanded on bail for sentencing on May 16 in Napier.

In February last year Andrew James Castles pleaded guilty to charges of sexual violation and attempted violation. He was jailed for 2 1/2 years.

Castles' mother, who was present in court to support the victim and his family, said later that her family had been ostracised by the families of her son's co-offenders. "We were treated like the pits."

Defence lawyers had gone beyond advocacy for their clients, attacking her son.

She described how her then 18-year-old son told her: "Mum, I've done something bad and I can't make it right."

Before telling his mother, Castles voluntarily went to Napier police and confessed.

The victim's parents and Castles' mother met at a restorative justice meeting.

She described the victim as "a great young man".

The victim's father said Castles had earned respect for his honesty.

"I said to him, 'When you go to jail, and you are going there, what you can do for us is better yourself'."

He said Castles was doing just that, studying engineering, and could hold his head up when he had done his time.

The friendship between the two families grew from an awkward first meeting before the first trial when Castles' mother took a card and flowers to the victim's house.

"It took a lot of guts to do that," the victim's father said.

The victim said he now hoped to get on with his life, leaving Hawke's Bay to study in Wellington.

"I just want to get my life under way and let Andrew do the same."

Castles is due to be released on November 19.

At the first trial in Gisborne a year ago, all six were found guilty of sexual violation. Last December, the Court of Appeal overturned the convictions on the grounds the trial judge had not properly explained to the jury what needed to be proved against each accused before they could be found guilty as a party to Castles' acts.

- NZPA