Labour Would Have Denied Victim A Voice

A convicted rapist could have been out of prison on home detention without his victim having a chance to argue against it, if the Government had had its way, says National’s Justice & Corrections spokesman, Simon Power.

He is commenting after the Parole Board reversed its decision to grant Peter McNamara home detention in August, just two years into his seven-year sentence.

“The Parole Board changed its mind when it realised it had failed to tell his victim before the hearing so she could make a submission. That was a positive move.

“The first mistake made was that this woman was not told he was getting out. To its credit, the Parole Board apologised to her, and the application was re-heard.

“This time the victim made a submission, after which the board changed its mind, reportedly saying ‘no one could fail to be moved by what had happened to the victim’ and that it ‘was compelled to give her views and concerns their due weight’.

“But if the Government had had its way, she would not have had the right to be there to make her oral submission.

“The Parole Act 2002 allows victims to make written and oral submissions at a parole hearing, but the Labour Government wanted to change that.

“Their Criminal Justice Reform Bill proposed that the only victims who could make an oral submission were those invited by the Parole Board, and only if it was relevant to the question of whether the offender presents an undue risk to society.

“Parliament, in its wisdom, threw that out, and thank goodness for that.

“The further shame is that under Labour, this man will be able to apply for parole in two months’ time, after serving only one third of his sentence.

“The lesson from this is that we must continue to stand up for the victims of crime, not try to abandon them as this Government appears to be doing.”

ENDS

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