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Little calls Sensible Sentencing leaders 'loopy' and 'callous' as key member quits

Author
David Fisher, NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Fri, 22 Jun 2018, 6:11AM
Andrew Little says he has concerns over some of the views of Sensible Sentencing Trust members. (Photo: NZ Herald)
Andrew Little says he has concerns over some of the views of Sensible Sentencing Trust members. (Photo: NZ Herald)

Little calls Sensible Sentencing leaders 'loopy' and 'callous' as key member quits

Author
David Fisher, NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Fri, 22 Jun 2018, 6:11AM

The influence of the Sensible Sentencing Trust appears to be waning with a key member leaving and Justice Minister Andrew Little labelling leading figures as "loopy" and "callous".

Scott Guthrie, a senior figure and spokesman for Sensible Sentencing Trust, told the Heraldhe had quit the trust believing it had achieved little that made New Zealand safer and that longer prison sentences were not the answer to crime and justice problems.

He has now set up the new Transforming Justice Foundation, saying rehabilitation and finding ways to help prisoners rejoin society without reoffending is the key to cutting crime.

Guthrie and the Foundation are set for a meeting with Minister of Justice Andrew Little in the next fortnight. In contrast, the Sensible Sentencing Trust had one meeting last year and hasn't been seen in the Beehive since.

The Trust has previously held a pivotal role in crime and justice debates, pushing for longer sentences and more restrictive bail and parole conditions.

In an interview with the Herald, Little said he had not met the group this year.

"I have a problem specifically with Garth McVicar who has a bit of a track record of what I think are some pretty loopy views".

Little said examples which disturbed him included McVicar's support for Bruce Emery who was 50 when he stabbed and killed a 15-year-old he caught tagging. McVicar said Emery should have got home detention, rather than the four years prison to which he was sentenced, and that the boy should not have been allowed to roam at night.

The Trust has previously held a pivotal role in crime and justice debates, pushing for longer sentences and more restrictive bail and parole conditions.

 

Garth McVicar, founder of the Sensible Sentencing Trust. Photo / Duncan Brown

Garth McVicar, founder of the Sensible Sentencing Trust. Photo / Duncan Brown

"There is no way to justify that position," said Little.

Little also highlighted McVicar's view marriage equality would increase criminal offending.

Most recently, there was McVicar offering police "congratulations" over the shooting of a young man which meant "one less to clog the prisons".

"It completely trivialised the position of police officers in that situation. I thought there's something unhealthy about that set of views that I don't think is helpful to a debate about criminal justice reform."

Little also had concern about a comment on a blog by Sensible Sentencing Trust lawyer David Garrett, the former Act MP.

In the wake of the Herald reporting a spike in suicides in our crowded prison system, Garrett wrote: "No one with half a brain cares if the kind of people featured on this blog under the title 'Meet a second striker' commit suicide in jail… and neither would you, if you cared a fig for their victims."

Little said: "The idea you just callously say it's okay if they commit suicide - that's not a set of values that I want to be anywhere the debate about reforming our criminal justice system."

He said he applauded the work the trust had previously done in raising the profile of victims of crime and he had met with a number of victim advocates to ensure those views were represented.

Guthrie's departure from the Sensible Sentencing Trust comes at a time when the "tough on crime" organisation is trying to maintain relevance as the Government argues for a drop in the prison population.

Scott Guthrie, who has left the Sensible Sentencing Trust to push for greater rehabilitation and reintegration services for prisoners.

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