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Suspended Assistant Police Commissioner Clint Rickards has vowed to return to work after today being cleared of indecent assault and kidnapping charges, but police say he will remain suspended.
A jury in the High Court in Auckland cleared Rickards and former policemen Bob Schollum and Brad Shipton of abducting and indecently assaulting a 16-year-old girl in Rotorua between November 1983 and August 1984.
The woman - who has name suppression - had claimed they handcuffed her and sexually violated her with a whisky bottle.
When the verdict of not guilty was delivered on the second charge of indecent assault against Rickards he punched the air at waist level, saying "Yes!" to himself.
He was defiant as he emerged from court. "I said three years ago that I was not guilty and that's been vindicated today," he said. "We are drained."
He added: "I am looking forward to starting at Auckland Central as soon as possible."
However, police said Mr Rickards would remain on suspension until employment matters had been sorted out.
In a statement, Deputy Police Commissioner Rob Pope said: "The last three years have been a difficult time for everyone concerned - for the complainant, the defendant and his family and the police inquiry team.
"The allegations made were very serious and had to be placed before the Court in order for justice to be done."
"Now that the criminal case has gone through the full process we move into the employment issues phase."
Mr Rickards' lawyer, John Haigh, QC, said the charges should never have been laid.
"The cost has been phenomenal, the cost on everyone, the community, Mr Rickards, everyone, his family and I think it was unwarranted."
He said Mr Rickards should have a future in the police.
"Who knows? He has done nothing wrong."
Mr Haigh said Mr Rickards would be back at work on Monday if he could.
"He is a man of considerable ability, great mana, great skills...he is focused on remaining in the police in that same role."
He said it may well be a fair comment to say the police force ruined him by charging him with sex offences.
"But he sees this as something he has to overcome and continue with his career."
Mr Rickards has been suspended from duty on full pay since February 2004 after investigations began into historic rape allegations. Mr Rickards, Schollum and Shipton were last year acquitted of 20 charges including the rape and sexual violation of Louise Nicholas when she was a teenager in Rotorua in the 1980s.
Mr Rickards was scathing about the police team set up after the Nicholas allegations surfaced.
"The Operation Austin [into historic police sex crimes] investigation was a shambles. It is an investigation that I would have been ashamed to have led. The Operation Austin team need to be held accountable."
Mrs Nicholas was in court for the verdict and she looked upset before exiting quickly.
Asked what she thought of verdict she said: "We did our best. We did our best. We did our very best. The justice system has let us down again".
Mr Rickards said he had spent $500,000 of his own money defending himself on sex charges.
"Well over half a million that I have paid for -- not legal aid," he said.
Political motivation claim
After jurors delivered the not guilty verdicts, the judge delivered a bombshell, lifting suppression orders to reveal that Schollum and Shipton were already in jail for rape.
They were convicted in 2005 of the rape of a woman in Mt Maunganui 16 years earlier and are currently serving jail sentences of eight years and eight-and-a half years respectively. Rickards was not involved in that case.
Shipton's brother Greg said the family did not believe any of the allegations and when questioned on the previous convictions, he replied: "We certainly don't believe that."
He added: "We want to move on with our lives. The stress that's chucked on our families is bordering on criminal itself."
He said he felt pity towards the women involved.
Greg Shipton said he believed the prosecution of Rickards was politically motivated.
"You have a serving police member who has been persecuted for the last 3 years," he said.
"Helen Clark, the Police Association and the police hierarchy need to right some wrongs handed out to Mr Rickard. I believe the persecution was to prevent him from becoming the first Maori commissioner of police. There's a lot of shots to be fired yet."
Mr Shipton said he didn't think the men had received fair trials and criticised the way the media covered the cases.
"I don't believe there was enough evidence to bring any of the cases to court but because the media have been one way, that's why he's [Shipton] sitting where he is (in jail for the Mt Maunganui rape)."
Tears in court
There were emotional scenes in court after Rickards, Schollum and Shipton were acquitted of all charges in the Rotorua case.
Family members shrieked and some cried. The wife of one of the acquitted men yelled out "thank you" to the jurors. The judge also thanked the jury.
The three men were ushered out of the court, with tears welling in their eyes. As Shipton left the courtroom his bottom lip quivered and tears flowed freely.
The families of the three then gathered outside the court in a circle for a karakia (prayer) led by one of Rickard's family members, who broke down in tears.
Sharon Shipton said she was delighted with the verdict, saying: "The verdicts speak for themselves. I told the truth."
Outside the courtroom, Schollum's sister Di Gilhooly said the family would now "be able to get on with our lives".
Schollum's brother Paul said he was just glad to be able to support his brother and it would take a while to move on.
Rickards' wife Tania would not comment when approached, while Schollum's wife Caron spoke to a friend on her mobile phone, repeating "it's over". She added: "Smiling through tears."
Crown Prosecutor Brent Stanaway would not comment on the verdicts.
- NZHERALD STAFF, NEWSTALK ZB, NZPA
