Media Release:

27th October 2008

Timebombs explode in Whangarei and Christchurch

Judge Andrew Becroft stressed the importance of defusing "human timebombs" before they explode, and this comment was endorsed by John Key.  But Christine Davey, Sensible Sentencing's Spokesperson on Drug Issues asks “how long will it take, and how much more damage will be done before this rhetoric translates into action?”

She points out that on the 23rd October Lee Jane Mettam, a “known P addict” was shot dead by Police in Whangarei after visiting a local shop brandishing a firearm. In the hour before she was shot, she had the opportunity to shoot several innocent people.

At the same time, the trial of Liam Reid is  underway in Christchurch, for allegedly murdering Emma Agnew and brutally raping a Dunedin woman and leaving her to die. Reid has an alibi for Emma's murder – he says he was buying drugs at the time – and he boasts that he uses P, and takes it by injection because it's the best way to have it.

These two cases demonstrate the kind of behaviour that P addicts are capable of.

Time will tell if Liam Reid is already known to Police for other anti-social behaviour as a result of his drug use. But if the Whangarei woman was a 'known P addict', and already known to the Police for causing grievous bodily harm in a bizarre attack on a former partner, why was she allowed to continue her illicit drug use unchallenged by Police?

There will be many others known to Police all over the country, quietly ticking. By not using the powers they have to intervene in this lifestyle, Police are enabling these crimes to be committed.

How many more innocent lives will be lost before P users (who are also victims of P) are rounded up and removed from society, and not released until their addictions are successfully treated.

Too hard?  Maybe – but not impossible.

The longer it's left, the louder and more widespread the ticking will become – and every Nzer  is at risk of becoming the next victim of these timebombs.

ends

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