Thursday 16 May 2002

ACT leader Richard Prebble said today, from his experience as a former Minister of Police, that the South Auckland killer is almost certainly a previously-convicted offender.

"There's a more than 50 percent probability that he has done time in jail, and a 30 percent possibility that he is out on early release," Mr Prebble said.

"The soft approach to crime has not worked.

"The government has ignored the 92 percent of the electorate who voted for tougher sentences. Even under the new rules for murder, when caught and convicted, this killer can again be released into the community.

"Under Labour's new sentencing law, the court will not be able to sentence a killer to more than one so-called `life sentence' for murder. Labour voted against ACT's proposal that a court must sentence killers cumulatively, where otherwise they would have no penalty for the extra crime.

"I have no doubt that Truth-in-Sentencing, where offenders serve their full court-ordered sentence, and Zero Tolerance for Crime - the New York approach - would change the climate that is producing a generation of conscienceless thugs," Mr Prebble said.

ENDS

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