Lost witness tapes delay paedophile's appeal

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A convicted paedophile's appeal hearing has been postponed for an unspecified period as lawyers from both sides try to find videotapes of the witness interviews.

Bruce Benjamin Shepherd, 74, was found guilty in March 2006 on 20 of the 26 sex charges he faced against nine women and girls.

In May 2006, he was jailed for 13 years for five charges of rape, two of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, 11 of indecent assault and two of inducing girls to commit indecent acts.

The abuse took place in Hawke's Bay, Wairarapa and Rotorua.

Shepherd maintained his innocence, saying the attacks never took place.

The charges covered assaults over a 30-year-period, coming from complaints by two women about offences when they were children in the late 1970s, and by seven girls in 2003-2004.

Shepherd appeared before the Court of Appeal briefly today, but was taken back to prison as his case was postponed until the uncut, unedited copies of police interviews with witnesses could be found and copied.

His return to court would be scheduled once the tapes had been found.

- NZPA