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Archived Press Releases 2008 5th November 2008

NZ is on its way to hell in a handcart

(5th November 2008)

"The revelation that Liam Reid was consistently breaching a court-imposed supervision sentence at the time he committed the murder of Emma Agnew and violently raped the Dunedin student, must surely be the straw that breaks the NZ public's back" says Sensible Sentencing Spokesperson on Drug Issues, Christine Davey.

She says: "We're told that 2 years ago Reid was released from his latest stint in prison, violent and drug-addicted ". On July 31st last year in the Dunedin District Court, he was sentenced to community work and nine months of supervision for, among other charges, preparing to commit a crime. He breached the supervision three times in less than four months.

Corrections' assistant general manager of community probation and psychological services, Tracy Mellor, is reported as saying that a condition imposed as part of last year's sentence was that Reid was to attend counselling to the satisfaction of a probation officer.

He was given a written warning in September last year for breaching supervision, and after further breaches court action was taken against him in October and November, the same month he committed the crimes. He was instructed to report to a probation officer every fortnight.

Ms Mellor said "the department could do little when people breached supervision – that people under supervision were in the community free to move around as they will, that the service tried to identify if the offender posed any escalating risk to the public, but there is little we can do directly."

"So what", asks Ms Davey, "is the point of imposing these sentences if the Department has no power to enforce them, and in fact seems hardly interested, let alone worried about the breaches?"

Is it any wonder that people like Reid thumb their noses at our Justice system? Is it any wonder that innocent young women are raped and murdered by drug-crazed addicts who are allowed to be "in the community free to move around as they will?"

"NZ is fast becoming one big asylum, controlled by the crazy people. Unless we get an incoming Government next week which is prepared to change direction, to take these people off the streets and treat drug addiction and anti-social behaviour appropriately in order to ensure the safety of innocent, law-abiding NZers, we might as well just give up now - because we're all on our way to hell in a handcart."

Regards,

Christine Davey
Sensible Sentencing Spokesperson on Drug Issues,
mobile 027 6376166