Victims Once Again Affected by a Glitch

Victims of crimes are being let down by the government refusing to fix the system that is supposed to alert them when a criminal is out of jail, says New Zealand First.

“Nearly seven months ago, when Phillip John Smith escaped to Brazil, New Zealand First told the Minister of Corrections Sam Lotu-Iiga the Victim Notification System was broken,” says Corrections Spokesperson Mahesh Bindra.

“At the time information was not being shared between government departments.

“The Minister denied there was an issue and even assured Parliament that Smith’s victims were notified about his temporary release and escape.

“Recently, a victim came into close contact at his local supermarket with the man who stabbed him. How many other victims have been treated this way by the Minister of Glitches?

“A Ministry of Health spokesperson claimed there was a glitch but it’s bigger than that when victims aren’t notified. This is a failure to put the rights of the victim at the centre of decision-making,” says Mr Bindra.

“The government has now called for an urgent fix to this latest ‘glitch’, but why did they wait so long?”

ENDS

© Scoop Media