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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Tess McClure in Auckland

New Zealand court quashes child sexual abuse conviction in landmark ruling

The supreme court in New Zealand
Peter Ellis, who died in 2019, spent seven years in jail on charges of child sexual abuse. Photograph: Nick Perry/AP

New Zealand’s supreme court has quashed the convictions of Peter Ellis, a Christchurch creche worker convicted of child sexual abuse in 1993 in a highly controversial case that included allegations of large-scale ritual abuse.

On Friday, the court found a “substantial miscarriage of justice” had occurred. It is the first time in New Zealand’s history that a conviction has been quashed posthumously – Ellis died from cancer in late 2019.

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