Suspended police chief awaits trial on full pay

Assistant Police Commissioner Clint Rickards - committed this week to stand trial on sex charges - remains suspended on full pay.

One of New Zealand's top police officers, Rickards is not being treated differently from any other officer facing criminal charges, says a spokesman from police national headquarters.

Rickards, estimated to be earning around $200,000 a year, was stood down from duties nearly 18 months ago when an investigation began into allegations by Rotorua woman Louise Nicholas.

The 44-year-old assistant commissioner and two former police officers, Brad Shipton, 47, and Bob Schollum, 53, were charged in March this year with a collective 20 counts of raping, indecently assaulting and sexually violating Mrs Nicholas almost 20 years ago.

All have denied the accusations. They officially entered not guilty pleas at the end of a depositions hearing this week after Rotorua District Court judge Chris McGuire found they had a case to answer. A date and venue for a High Court trial has still to be set.

Asked about Rickards' status, police national headquarters spokesman Jon Neilson said "nothing has changed".

Although suspended from any operational involvement, he still held his rank and continued to receive the pay and perks that were part of his employment conditions.

That included a car - although any police radio would be removed - but Mr Neilson would not say if use of a fuel card was part of the deal.

Nor would he say how much Mr Rickards was being paid. That was a privacy matter.

"We do not divulge the nature of what is in a [employment] contract," Mr Neilson said.

The status quo remained until the case had finished going through the court process. The outcome of that would determine any future action.

"There are employment issues as well as disciplinary issues," he said.

If Rickards was acquitted of all charges he could still face an in-house disciplinary process over any breaches of police behaviour, standards and regulations.

Dismissal of an officer involved a "clearly defined procedure", said Mr Neilson. "The commissioner would make the call on legal and employment advice."

At the end of the preliminary hearing - just before the judge committed Rickards, Shipton and Schollum to trial - Rickards' lawyer John Haigh QC said it had been like having a sword of Damocles hanging over his client's head since early last year.

He was referring to the story of Dionysius, a Greek ruler who taught his courtier Damocles a lesson by inviting him to a banquet and seating him beneath a sword, suspended by a hair. He ate knowing sudden death was hanging over his head.

Clint Rickards was once considered a future police commissioner; a question mark now hangs over his career.

When Louise Nicholas, now married and a 38-year-old mother of three daughters, went public with her allegations of pack rape and repeated sexual abuse against the three men at the beginning of last year, the publicity was extensive.

A criminal investigation was launched, taking up thousands of police hours and costing more than $3 million.

Thirteen months later, in March, the men were charged.

A Government-launched commission of inquiry into police conduct has been stalled while the criminal proceedings go through the system.

Some names, details and the evidence of several witnesses have been suppressed in a move to ensure the three men receive a fair trial.

With more than 40 witnesses listed to give evidence, the preliminary hearing was expected to take two weeks. Instead, it lasted two days, with the bulk of the evidence put forward in written form.