Blessie’s killer shows more changes needed
Blessie’s killer shows more changes needed
The tragic case of Blessie Gotingco’s murder shows that further changes to the use of Preventive Detention are needed to keep our communities safe, says ACT Leader David Seymour.
“ACT’s Three Strike law will effectively lock away the worst violent recidivist criminals, and it is a shame this law was not introduced long ago, not just in 2010 at the instigation of the ACT Party,” said Mr Seymour.
“But more is needed.
“In the case of Tony Robertson, his earlier trial for abducting and sexually assaulting a five year old girl led the Crown to apply for an open-ended sentence of periodic detention. Regrettably, the judge gave him the benefit of the doubt, and instead he was given an eight year sentence.
“But eight years later he had not made any attempt at rehabilitation. At that time the judge should have been able to revisit the earlier decision to give Robertson the benefit of the doubt because of the possibility of rehabilitation.
“At present, however, this is not possible. The law needs to change to give judges and the Crown the ability to revisit those earlier decisions, as those decisions are made on the basis of informed guesses as to future behaviour.
“That is the only way to keep our communities safe from the most violent predators amongst us.
“A key role of government is to keep us safe. This case shows how lawmakers could improve.”
ENDS