No parole for career crim, says National

One of the country’s worst burglars should never be allowed parole again, says National’s Law and Order spokesman, Tony Ryall.

Benjamin Turei is now serving his 11th stretch in prison, having been convicted of a string of major burglaries and several assaults in Wellington.

"This career criminal was back on a frenzy of crime within weeks of being released on parole last time,” Mr Ryall says.

“His list of 83 previous convictions shows he cannot be trusted on the streets of this country. He should never get parole again.

"He has been sentenced to six years, and under Labour can apply for parole at 33%, or a mere two years.

“National says Turei is further proof that parole is a failed experiment and should be abolished.

"I doubt that anyone’s property will ever be safe if Turei is released,” Mr Ryall says. “He is a perfect example of why preventive detention should be expanded".

© 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>>