An independent inquiry into the Peter Ellis case?

Stuff reports:

Dunedin author Lynley Hood and former National leader Don Brash have written to the new Justice Minister Amy Adams asking for an independent inquiry into the Peter Ellis case.

Ellis was convicted on 13 charges of abusing children in his care at the Christchurch Civic Creche.

His supporters have always argued he was convicted on unreliable evidence from children interviewed in a leading way by specialist interviewers.

“We ask you to commission an overseas judge to review the entire case. We believe this is the only realistic option left,” Hood and Brash say in the letter.

The letter says:

– Though more than 20 years have passed since the controversial conviction of Peter Ellis, disquiet over the Civic Creche case remains widespread and ongoing and extends to some of the most senior judges in the country.

– In the history of New Zealand criminal justice, no petition to Parliament has been supported by such a weight of political, legal and scholarly authority as the 2003 petition calling for a Royal Commission of Inquiry.

I believe the Ellis convictions are very unsafe, and fully support an inquiry into the entire case.