Wellington District Court Judge Peter Hobbs has fined KiwiRail $432,500 for passenger life-threatening negligence. As KiwiRail is a government owned company, this financial punishment is pointless.
He has effectively taken this money from one government agency (KiwiRail) and given it to another, (the Treasury).
All this absurdity had numerous ancillary costs in its prosecution as well.
What should have happened?
Simply an enquiry and the sacking of the individuals responsible, or if appropriate, criminal prosecutions against those individuals as happens to people whose negligence threatens others safety.
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One word “true”
YES!!!!!!
Absolute madness and we need to sack the fools in Govt departments that dream up and implement this sort of guff
It’s like when one part of Auckland Council takes another part of Auckland Council to court, as has happened a few times in the past.
The only ones to suffer are the ratepayers.
These people don’t seem to operate in the real world.
Haha, Often thought about the absurdity of these types of prosecutions. It is not uncommon to see our local regional council take our local council to court, admittedly over something quite bad, in which the court awards a severe fine on the local council along with some very stern words.
The silly thing though, it is the ever suffering rate payer who indirectly pays the damn fine!
Too sensible, couldn’t do that.
seems to be a pattern here Greater Wellington Prosecuted itself in the environment court a few years ago for a silt discharge from an old dam. The issue not the fine the issue will be the cost of the shiny back lawyers involved.
And our Courts are backlogged, so that justice is denied for the rest of us.
It is past time for a simple law change, preventing all prosecutions of corporate entities. Only named individuals should be prosecuted, although of course it still needs to be possible to sue corporations for damages.
It’s like paying tax on your superannuation pension or another benefit. Just one state department (social development) paying another (IRD). But I suppose something has to justify those jobs for civil servants
Yes, and all along people are killed on Quad bikes without roll over protection and what do Worksafe do? Nothing.
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