Waikato's Early Release Insults Memory of Victim

act-new-zealand

Wed Oct 30 2002 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)

Waikato's Early Release Insults Memory of Victim

Wednesday, 30 October 2002, 4:08 pm
Press Release: ACT New Zealand

The release of Lisa Marie Waikato who was involved with the killing of Michael Choy insults his memory and his family, ACT Justice Spokesman Stephen Franks said today.

"It is absolutely inevitable that the community will see more of these outrages in the future. Waikato was sentenced under the old law requiring her to serve at least two-thirds. Under Mr Goff's new law all offenders sentenced to two years or under must be released at the halfway point.

"So Waikato's trifling sentence would have ended around four months ago. It would have made no difference how she behaved - whether she'd shown remorse or whether she'd openly gloated about her crime - she would be out in half her sentence.

"This system says to callous young thugs that the price of an innocent life is lots of flattering attention from the authorities, taxpayer-funded lawyers and counsellors along with free room and board and educational opportunities. The prevailing theory is that criminals should be "treated" for their criminological needs, and the victim's wish to see justice is deemed as a primitive urge that should be ignored.

"There will be no change until voters recognise that this kind of law flows from Labour's deepest beliefs about human nature - that it is wrong to blame individuals for their behaviour as there is always someone else who should have stopped them or helped them. True personal accountability is seen as old fashioned - if this attitude destroys faith in justice and encourages young thugs and their villainous families to Labour that is just a cost the rest of us must bear," Stephen Franks said.

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