Cop lawyer labels case 'obsessive and flawed'

By ALISON BROWN in Rotorua
The lawyer for a high ranking police officer accused of raping a Rotorua woman has slammed the ensuing police investigation as "obsessive and flawed".

Assistant commissioner Clinton John Tukotahi Rickards, 44, and two former policemen, Bradley Keith Shipton, 47, and Robert Francis Schollum, 53, were yesterday committed to stand trial in the High Court on historical allegations of pack rape.

The decision was made by Judge Chris McGuire following a two-day depositions hearing in the Rotorua District Court.

The men face a total of 20 charges of rape, indecent assault, and unlawful sexual connection.

Rotorua woman Louise Nicholas alleges she was sexually abused in 1986, when she was 18, by the three men who were officers in Rotorua at the time.

The trio have strenuously denied the allegations.

Rickard's lawyer, John Haigh, QC, told the court the case against his client was "built on straw".

"It has no substance and has been propped up by an obsessive and flawed police investigation," he said.

"It has no objectivity whatsoever ... It is an accumulation of stale and unreliable evidence ... propped up by the extremely public clamouring of Mrs Nicholas who has appeared in television and print media time after time attacking Assistant Commissioner Rickards."

Mr Haigh said Rickards had not made any media statements but wanted justice to take its course.

Since claims against Rickards emerged early last year, he stood down from his job and remained with a "sword of Damocles hanging over his head".

During his suspension, Rickards watched his integrity and reputation "slide away" over the allegations which Mr Haigh said "almost became embedded as accurate and accepted as fact".

He criticised the $3 million and "thousands of police hours" which had reportedly been spent investigating Mrs Nicholas' claims.

Fourteen officers had worked "nearly continually" on the case while victims of burglary had struggled to see an officer during that time, he said.

Schollum's lawyer, Paul Mabey, QC, raised concerns about whether the defendants could receive a fair trial, indicating he would be applying for a change of venue.

Shipton's counsel Bill Nabney did not make any submissions.

Remanding the men to the High Court at Rotorua on September 1, Judge McGuire stressed he would not allow anything to challenge the men's right to a fair trial.

He reminded the media of suppression orders which restrict the publication of various details involved in the case.

Earlier in the day, 32 pages of Mrs Nicholas' written evidence was read to reporters over 45 minutes.

She met Schollum when he was stationed in Murupara and considered him a family friend. He regularly visited her family's home and she was a babysitter for his children.

After she left school, she was introduced to Shipton and Rickards through Schollum during a visit to the Rotorua police bar with Bank of New Zealand colleagues.