Allegations Denied

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31142, 19 August 1966, Page 3

Allegations Denied

(N Z. Press Association)

HAMILTON, Aug. 18. Allegations that a Rotorua detective-ser-geant said, “C’mon Jack, admit it—do it before we get stuck into you,” to force Jack Rohaparae Gerrard to sign a statement admitting a burglary were denied in the Supreme Court today.

“The words ‘get stuck in.' did not crop up in any context 1 can recall either before, during or after taking the statement,” Deteetive-Sergeant Ross Philip Dallow said.

But he mentioned, “nly as a possibility” he could have used the words, but with the meaning of “get stuck into the statement.”

Detective-Sergeant Dallow was giving evidence in the fourth day of a £lO9O damages claim by Gerrard against the Attorney-General. Gerrard claims he was wrongfully arrested and imprisoned, and falsely and maliciously and without reasonable cause, charged, twice, with burglary. Earlier a Rotorua detective, and a former police constable, who were in the room either all or most of the time the statement was being taken, said they had not heard Gerrard being threatened by any police officer. Detective-Sergeant Dallow told the Court that when he first contacted Gerrard about the burglary, he asked him to come to the police station and checked his fingerprints with those found at the scene of the offence.

“As we were walking to the police station,” he said, T did it,’ and I warned him he needn’t say anything about it, but we’d fix it up when we got to the police station,” said Detective-Sergeant Dallow. “At the station he indicated he. wanted to make a statement when I asked him what had happened he replied ‘you know,’ but I told him 1 wanted it in his own words.” The day Gerrard was charged in the Rotorua Magistrate’s Court, the DetectiveSergeant took him to his cousin’s to arrange bail. He denied telling Gerrard’s

cousin “we kept him in clink for the night. “I never use the word clink, I may have used hinaki,” he said “1 sometimes do when speaking to Maoris —they understand it better than custody or gaol.” Cross-examined, DetectiveSergeant Dallow denied telling Gerrard he had his fingerprints from the scene of the crime.

“At that stage I didn’t know whose fingerprints we had,” he said.

The hearing, which was originally expected to be completed tomorrow, will now continue until Monday.