Mad Christchurch white supremacist Philip Arps has been jailed for 4 months for telling his probation officers they are fat and piss-weak.
Meanwhile in Auckland an off-duty police-woman caught driving 2½ times over the alcohol limit and swerving all over the road, killed a cyclist riding in the cycle path and received 10 months home detention, as, according to the Judge, she was plainly remorseful.
Both these sentences are self-evidently preposterous and should be appealed.
5 Comments
And we wonder why a human life is becoming so cheap in NZ, and why our rates of violent offending and killing keep increasing? Lack of consequences enables abuse, violence, crime and murder. Our Judges need to begin each sentencing process, by looking at the maximum penalty under our laws, as set by Parliament, not at some MP’s sentencing guidelines designed for cheap, ineffective sentencing.
How Barnum must wish he was alive today. He’d be selling tickets to our courts. The public seem oblivious to the entertaining spectacle they’ve become. The TAB’s wisely staying well out it though. What sane person could accurately predict a sentence today?
I agree Sir Bob. There is no consistency in sentencing these days and victims often come off a poor second best. If you take a life while breaking the law you should be detained at His Majesty’s pleasure for the balance of the average life expectancy of the deceased.
The average motorist gets a heftier penalty for doing a few ks over the speed limit than a thug doing ram raid.
SRJ is 100 % correct.
Justice is supposed to be seen to be done.
I wonder would the Judge have handed down the same sentence had it been their husband or son killed?
This Judge has added terrible insult to fatal injury by discounting the value of the victims life.
The grief and despair of family & friends must surely balance an offenders remorse.