Historic rape case 'built on straw' says lawyer

Historic sex allegations against one of New Zealand's top police officers was a case "at best, built on straw", the Rotorua District Court heard yesterday.

There was no substance to charges of rape, indecent assault and sexual violation faced by Assistant Commissioner Clint Rickards, Judge Chris McGuire was told just before he committed Rickards and two former policemen, Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum, for trial.

All three pleaded not guilty to a collective 20 charges involving Louise Nicholas, then aged 18.

In an unorthodox submission, Rickards' lawyer, John Haigh, QC, asserted that the case against his client was propped up by an obsessive and flawed police investigation with "no objectivity whatsoever".

He said it was an investigation in name only and an accumulation of "stale, unreliable" evidence.

Mr Haigh also hit out at the "extreme public clamouring" of the complainant, Louise Nicholas, who had appeared on television and in print "time after time, attacking Assistant Commissioner Rickards".

Mr Rickards had been stood down from his position since early last year and charged in March this year after a 13-month inquiry.

He could do nothing to maintain his integrity and reputation, watching that "slide away" under a barrage of allegations which became embedded and accepted as fact, Mr Haigh said.

The allegations had been denied and the assistant commissioner waited for justice to take its course.

Mr Haigh said the police investigation had, by the beginning of this year, cost $3 million and taken thousands of hours. At least 14 police officers had been working on it "while most New Zealanders would struggle to see one [officer] if they had a burglary or anything".

Mr Rickards now faced a lengthy delay before he would be tried, said Mr Haigh, who accepted that it was "inevitable" after the depositions hearing that the case would go to the High Court.

However, the lawyer said, as a matter of principle he would not concede that there was a case to answer.

After Mr Haigh's speech, Judge McGuire said to him: "I think you will accept that almost all of what you say is outside the particular statutory task that I have, which is to decide if there is enough evidence to place the defendants on trial - and I do so find."

Neither Paul Mabey, QC, representing Schollum, nor Bill Nabney, for Shipton, argued against a prime facie case being established.

A date and venue for a High Court trial will be determined on September 1.

Judge McGuire carefully outlined various suppression orders again yesterday, saying he wanted to make it very clear that, as far as the depositions hearing was concerned, he would be punctilious in ensuring the orders were obeyed.

"This is, first and foremost, about a fair trial for the accused. There is nothing that is going to challenge that within the parameters of my jurisdiction," he said.

"This is a very serious case for all those involved."

In written evidence, Louise Nicholas told of how Shipton and Rickard - both "large in stature - I was very intimidated by them" - repeatedly visited her when the then 18-year-old was alone in her flat during the day. They came specifically for sex and would ignore her refusals and pleas to be left alone.

"I was very intimidated and scared of them both. I felt this way because of who they were [police officers] and their physical size compared to me. At that time I was slim and only lightly built, weighing about 47kg," she said.

"They didn't use physical force - they just made me do what they wanted."

Her 32-page written statement told in detail of an occasion when Schollum - who had been a family friend for some years - offered her a lift home and instead took her to another house where she was allegedly raped and violated by the three defendants, despite her protests and tears.

A fourth man whom she did not know stood in the bedroom doorway and watched.

Before then she had not seen Schollum as a threat "like I did Shipton and Rickards".

At one stage Schollum was holding her and telling her repeatedly "it will be all right".

Afterwards he told her to have a shower.

He said nothing as he drove her home but when she was getting out of the car he said "Sorry Lou".

Shipton and Rickard continued visiting her uninvited after that, Mrs Nicholas said.

"I had got past protesting or begging them not to do these things to me. I was like a little girl, hoping they would stop.

"I never, ever gave consent to any of the defendants to have sex with me. They just took me for granted.

"I went along with what they wanted because they were policemen. I felt I had no way of stopping them and there was nothing I could do," she said.

"They scared the living daylights out of me."

If she didn't comply with their demands, she feared, they had the power "to put me away".

"I was frightened for myself."

THE CASE

Complainant
Louise Nicholas, now 38 and a mother of three

She alleges she was raped and sexually abused by three police officers in Rotorua nearly 20 years ago.

Case so far
After a two-day depositions hearing all three men were committed to stand trial in the High Court on a date still to be set.

Preliminary evidence produced by the Crown was from 44 witnesses, with the majority by way of written briefs.

Strict suppression orders covering some details remain in force.