Where's Pugmire's Apology?

ACT New Zealand Health Spokesman Heather Roy today asked why, in the wake of the nine-year non-parole sentence given to paedophile Barry Allen Ryder, no apology had yet been given to the nurse who blew the whistle on the impending release of New Zealand's most notorious sex offender.

"In 1993 Lake Alice psychiatric nurse Neil Pugmire revealed that Ryder - aka Barry Allan and Stephen Staynor (or Stainor) - was about to be released, and warned that he would reoffend," Mrs Roy said.

"His actions caused a huge uproar, not just over the fact that this dangerous, recidivist offender was to be released into society, but because he had blown the whistle and told the public what the Government didn't want them to know.

"Mr Pugmire urged the then National Government to keep Ryder locked up but, instead, they slammed Mr Pugmire, who only narrowly avoided being fired. Yet, within a year of Ryder's release Pugmire was proved correct, with Ryder back behind bars for kidnapping and attempting to rape an 11 year-old boy.

"Now, Ryder may spend the rest of his life in prison. Mr Pugmire was right all along - yet has anyone apologised for the appalling treatment he received in the first place?

"Too often, Governments are quick to jump on the bandwagon and join the public in blaming health professionals at the coal face. Mr Pugmire, and other professionals like him, have often been scapegoats for systemic failures and Government cock-ups. If the Government had listened to Mr Pugmire to begin with, Ryder would have had no chance to blight his victims' lives," Mrs Roy said.

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