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Archived Press Releases 2009 19th October 2009

Rethinking SLAMMED

(19th October 2009)

Coordinators for the Sensible Sentencing Trust are surprised and concerned that the director of Rethinking Crime and Punishment was invited to address the Victim Support conference held last week.

Wellington Spokesperson Leigh Woodman whose daughter was murdered said that she was very concerned that Mr Workman criticized Judith Collins' speech to the Sensible Sentencing Trust annual conference which she attended.

"In his speech Mr Workman said that claims that the system was ‘preoccupied with offenders’ rights were not true’ was an example of how biased his thinking was."

"Parole, Bail, Right to Silence and the recent manipulation of Victim Impact Statements are all examples of how offender orientated the system has become. To deny this at a Victim Support conference is very concerning, I just hope CEO Tony Paine was able to rectify Mr Workman’s claims."

Nelson Sensible Sentencing Trust Coordinator Judy Ashton was also critical.

"Under existing legislation Judges are instructed to give the "least restrictive sentence", if that is not giving additional rights to the offender I don’t know what is."

"Mr. Workman’s previous job as CEO of Prison Fellowship should have alerted Victim Support as to what his leanings were; I am very concerned that an organization that receives Government funding and was set up to support victims now seems to be having a foot in both camps."

"We were very excited about the recent Government initiatives to help Victims but it is a real concern that all the administration is under the management of Victim Support."

Mrs Woodman added that Judith Collins' speech was like a breath of fresh air. "The Minister stated that crime was a choice and prison was entirely voluntary and that the imbalances in the system need to be addressed."

"Victims have been ridiculed and silenced for too long, it appears that Mr. Workman is having trouble dealing with the new direction the National Government has announced."

Regards,

Leigh Woodman
Wellington Spokesperson,
Judy Ashton
Nelson Sensible Sentencing Trust Coordinator