More Misery From Parole

ACT Justice Spokesman Stephen Franks today said the Minnell case is nothing out of the ordinary, despite the misery it is causing the families of the boys killed by Wanganui hit-and-run driver Victor Minnell.

"It should be a scandal, but the distress is exactly what the system has to produce," Mr Franks said.

"What humane person could expect any result, other than disgust from victims, from a system which tells them falsely that a three year sentence is going to be four-and-a-half years?

"All the justice establishment insiders know that only extraordinary circumstances - and, probably, extraordinary efforts by the victims - will make the sentence much more than half of what the judge has ordered.

"Why have a system that says four-and-a-half years when it means only three? The reason is simple: Corrections Minister Phil Goff and his comrades want to seem tough on crime, while making sure the prison backdoor is wide open.

"The solution is just as simple: truth in sentencing means abolishing parole and having a supervision period for every criminal, starting at the end of the sentence that the court has ordered.

"Truth in sentencing is the least that victims should expect from the rest of us, who are lucky enough to have not been hurt yet," Mr Franks said.

© Scoop Media