Stop the ‘blame game’ on killer’s bail

National is calling for a high-level independent inquiry into the ‘fury of finger-pointing’ surrounding the freeing on bail of insane mental patient Jesse Moore.

Moore walked from court on bail last year and later that day murdered his father’s former partner.

“Serious questions must be asked,” says National’s Law and Order spokesman, Tony Ryall. “They can be answered only by a high-level inquiry by a QC.

“There is so much finger-pointing going on here that someone needs to discover what went wrong. This case has parallels with the sad situation of Mark Burton.

“Everyone is blaming everyone else. The system cannot let this happen again.

“The judges are pointing at the police and health professionals for failing to provide full information to the presiding judge.

“The health board is blaming ‘miscommunication’ to the judge, insisting that the bail hearing was twice told there was no guarantee Moore would not commit another violent act.

“The police, who opposed bail, are blaming the health authorities for saying Moore could be safely bailed.

“Moore’s lawyer is also concerned about the performance of mental health in this case.

“This is a tragic case that needs to be clarified. The ‘blame game’ is not going to help anyone. We must get to the core of why this happened before there is a repeat," Mr Ryall says.

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>