Alexander: 33-year sentence a good start

The 33-year minimum non-parole sentence handed down to Auckland RSA triple-killer William Bell in the High Court at Auckland today was a good start - but no more than that, United Future law and order spokesman Marc Alexander said.

"It is good to see the tide turning, and sentences beginning to reflect the impact of crime on victims, and the real feeling of the average Kiwi that justice be done," he said.

"We are finally starting to match sentences up to the enormity of the crime, and it is also important that such a sentence doesn't put the families of victims through the torture that is the parole process in this country today, where old wounds are opened and they live in fear.

"But it is just a start: Life should mean life, and crimes don't come much more horrific and brutal than this one," Mr Alexander said of the murders of Wayne Johnson, Mary Hobson and William Absolum in December 2001.

"Offenders such as Bell should not be allowed to leave their prison accommodation until the end of their natural days - in a pine box, or let them out on their 101st birthday.

"Society has simply had enough of being hit by the Bells of this world," he said.

Speaking in Parliament last night in reply to Prime Minister Helen Clark's statement, the Christchurch-based MP ran through a litany of recent violent attacks by people and dogs, and called upon the Government to put the safety and security of New Zealanders as a top priority.

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