New twist in Robin Brooke scandal

Robin Brooke. Photo / Janna Dixon

Police are urging the woman who accused Robin Brooke of having sex with her when she was drunk and "comatose" to lay an official complaint.

The former All Black is facing allegations of having sex with the then 18-year-old after a night of heavy drinking with her and a friend in 1998.

The woman said she and Brooke met and had consensual sex a year earlier, when she was 17 and he was 30. He had been married for eight months.

Assistant Commissioner Grant Nicholls said yesterday that he was aware the woman had "told media she will consider whether to lay a complaint with police when she feels she is ready".

He told the Herald: "I would like her to know that police are ready to discuss any aspect of the allegations made should she choose to speak with us. It is important that anyone who believes they have been a victim ... knows they will be listened to and taken seriously when they come to police."

A friend of the woman told TVNZ's Close Up this week that Brooke bought them multiple shots of a liqueur on the night in question, before accompanying them home.

The friend said she woke to find Brooke having sex with the "comatose" teenager and told him to stop.

The woman complained to the New Zealand Rugby Union at the time, but did not go to the police.

Mike Banks, the All Black manager at the time, said the woman had complained that Brooke had been drinking and refused to leave her property. But Mr Banks said he was not told of the sex allegation.

"That's the point. The allegations that were [made] on air on Close Up were far more serious than those that were conveyed to me by the complainants," Mr Banks has said.

Last night, former All Blacks coach John Hart told Close Up he had no knowledge of the alleged incident until much later.

"It wasn't until probably nine months later - when there was some speculation around the captaincy at that time - when I was given a letter ... from someone who had written to the Rugby Union saying that in light of this incident ... if Robin was appointed as captain of the All Blacks, he [the writer] would have something to say."

Asked if the incident had influenced the decision not to make Brooke captain, Mr Hart said no.

"Not at all. We'd already made our decision and at no stage did I discuss with Robin the captaincy and at no stage was it offered and at no stage did the panel agree that he was the appropriate All Black captain."