'Let it go', Louise Nicholas tells former police chief

John Dewar (L) attacked Louise Nicholas over the weekend saying she had caused his family 'immeasurable grief'. Photos / Stephen Barker, Brett Phibbs

Louise Nicholas says she just wants to move on and she wishes the former police officer who handled her sex case would too.

"I've done what I thought was the right thing. I have no regrets. Now it's time to move on. Sadly I don't think [John] Dewar wants to do that ... [He needs to ] let it go, not for his own sake but for the sake of his children," she said.

Mr Dewar, the former chief inspector of Rotorua CIB, was paroled in May after serving 19 months of a four-year sentence for perverting the course of justice.

Mr Dewar has attacked Mrs Nicholas for causing his family "immeasurable grief", and said he planned to write a book and apply for leave to appeal his conviction to the Supreme Court in an attempt to clear his name.

Former Assistant Police Commissioner Clint Rickards and former officers Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum were found not guilty of raping Mrs Nicholas and sexual offending alleged to have taken place at a police house in 1986. Mr Dewar was convicted, after their trial, of wilfully attempting to obstruct, pervert or defeat the course of justice.

Mrs Nicholas said she wished Mr Dewar the "best of British luck" in taking his case to the Supreme Court.

"If that happens, bring it on."

However, she thought he was wasting his time and money and would not get very far.

"What I think he fails to realise is that police brought the case, not me, due to the evidence they had ... "

It had been reported that the courts had allowed a gagging order imposed by the Parole Board against Mr Dewar to be lifted. Mrs Nicholas said she was angry about the decision to lift the order and she felt like she was being "revictimised".

Meanwhile, Mr Dewar's wife, Louise Dewar, said she no longer held the same level of animosity towards Mrs Nicholas.

"At one stage I thought I might kill her but now I just think she is not someone I would have a normal conversation with, so what would be the point of giving your side or saying anything.

"I don't wish to see her," Mrs Dewar said.

Mr Dewar said prison had been difficult for a former cop. He was attacked in prison by a murderer armed with a rake three days before he was due to be paroled.

"It's a violent place. If you are a police officer, you are a target.

"You had to stand your ground. You can't do it in a way with bravado and your chest pounding, saying 'Come on, I'll take you'."

The father of four said he had lost $700,000 in the fight to clear his name.

"I lost everything, we lost all our possessions. I lost a job, I lost my family and liberty for some time but overall I lost my reputation, my good name."

The 58-year-old said he had spoken to Shipton since he was released from jail, but not to Schollum or Rickards.

Dewar said he was writing the book to try to set the record straight.

"Part of it was therapy for me, but it was all the inconsistencies, stuff that didn't come out of the trial, things she has denied in her book."

Mrs Nicholas' story is featured in a book Trial To Triumph, written by Tauranga author George Bryant, which has been released this month. The book examines the lives of 21 New Zealanders who have overcome traumas and moved on to help others.