System Looks After 'Broomstick' Offenders

ACT New Zealand Justice Spokesman Stephen Franks today called for a change in policy so that offenders who appeal and lose can be given stiffer sentences to reflect the difference between those who accept their crime and show remorse, and those whose appeals show they haven't.

"Justice Goddard may have felt obliged to follow prevailing practice and treat the second trial of the "Broomstick" offenders as though the first hadn't occurred. It is time judges felt free at sentencing time to send a clear message that unmeritorious appeals are not costless.

"The system should recognise the emotional cost to the victim and his family of a second trial," Mr Franks said.

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