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Press Release
17th June 2008

Band Aid Solution To Violent Crime

The Prime Ministers suggestion that reducing liquor outlets as a means of reducing violent crime is like a knife wielding attacker offering a band-aid as his victim lies bleeding to death, says the Sensible Sentencing Trust.

Trust spokesman Garth McVicar was responding to suggestions by the Prime Minister that she had grave concerns about the role of alcohol in violent offending and said that it was inevitable that Parliament will have to revisit some of the consequences of the 1989 Liquor legislation.

“I assume the Prime Minister is talking about the same Parliament that recently changed Bail legislation that is now allowing more violent offenders to receive Bail?”

“Is she talking about the same Parliament that is allowing repeat violent offenders to apply for Parole before serving their Judge given sentence and is attempting to introduce a sentencing Council that will lower all sentences by one third?”

Mr. McVicar said what the Prime Minister was suggesting was trying to smoke-screen and deflect the debate from the real issue.

“This Government has progressively introduced legislation that has tied Judges in knots and totally handicapped the Police”.

“When Judges are instructed to “impose the least restrictive” sentence or to ignore Police opposition to Bail the outcome was always going to be an increase in offending.”

“Criminals are not dumb, they know the Government is passing laws that make it extremely difficult for the Police to apprehend and hold them or if unlucky enough to end up in Court Judges are instructed to be lenient.”

“If the Prime Minister is serious about reducing violent crime she needs to get serious about removing violent criminals off the streets and out of our communities.”

“Criminals have a choice; they must be held accountable for the choices they make.”

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