Louise Nicholas story of police rape a result of trust and dedicated journalism

Wednesday, 19 April 2023

The Dominion Post front page of January 31, 2004 was a tribute to the power of good investigative journalism.

With The Dominion Post soon to become simply The Post, we look back at some of the biggest stories the publication and its predecessors have produced.

On January 30, 2004, most New Zealanders had never heard of Philip Kitchin or Louise Nicholas.

All that changed on January 31, when The Dominion Post published an explosive story claiming Nicholas had been gang raped by police. Under the headline “Police raped me” Kitchin spelt out, in detail, the sordid allegations.

Philip Kitchin was a hardworking journalist who bravely investigated a police cover-up of the sexual abuse of Louise Nicholas.

The story would have far-reaching implications for police, ultimately resulting in four officers being imprisoned and a damning Commission of Inquiry.

Over the next few years, The Dominion Post pressed hard on the issue and were ultimately vindicated for their bravery in confronting an issue police tried to sweep under the carpet.

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Louise Nicholas outside a house in Rotorua, where she said she was raped by three policemen.

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Since its launch in 2002, The Dominion Post had earned a reputation for investigative journalism with Hawke’s Bay based journalist Philip Kitchin leading the way.

In the mid 1990s, he had received information that serving police officers had got away with raping a woman.

Louise Nicholas at the launch of her book Louise Nicholas, My Story.

The rape involved a group of officers who had a list of young women and girls they could use for sex, sometimes acting as a pack.

Kitchin worked away behind the scenes to vindicate the story of one teenage girl being repeatedly abused by police.

There had been a series of trials but no convictions and initially Kitchin did not even know who the victim was. He would discover that Nicholas was 13 when she was first abused by police.

Louise Nicholas had a high level of trust in Philip Kitchin.

Once he gained access to the police files, he realised how important and far-reaching the case was.

A senior officer, John Dewar, had quoted hear-say evidence, resulting in the trials being aborted. It was evident to Kitchin that Dewar had deliberately perverted the course of justice to protect his police colleagues.

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Kitchin tracked down Nicholas and told her of his concerns about Dewar, whom Nicholas considered a friend. He told Nicholas that he wanted to tell her story and would do so, as long as she told the truth.

In 2007 Dewar, the detective initially handling Nicholas' complaints, was convicted on four charges of attempting to obstruct or defeat the course of justice.

The 2004 publication of her story had led to more victims coming forward.

Her story had been accompanied by calls from Nicholas and The Dominion Post for an inquiry into police culture. Then-prime minister Helen Clark agreed and highly respected civil servant Dame Margaret Bazley was given the task of establishing what had occurred.

The Commission of Inquiry into police culture, found major shortcomings in the way police handled sexual assault cases and made wide-ranging recommendations for change.

Police accepted the Commission's findings in full, apologised unreservedly to victims and embarked on a programme of change.

The case highlighted the effectiveness of good journalism but what many readers would not have grasped is that it took great courage to publish her story. Newspapers grapple every day with what is publishable and without the support of then-editor Tim Pankhurst, the story might have never been told.

Paul Elenio summed it up in his book, The Dominion Post 150 Years, published in 2015.

“The Louise Nicholas story is today held up as a great example of patient dogged investigative work by a committed journalist. However, the equation is not complete without remembering that an editor and his or her newspaper need to have the confidence and courage to publish such results.”

In the 2015 Queens Birthday Honours, Nicholas was appointed an officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for Services to the prevention of sexual violence.

- Philip Kitchin also worked with TVNZ (especially head of news Bill Ralston) when he covered the Louise Nicholas story.