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Auckland - Three
teenage girls, wrongly imprisoned for a crime they did not commit, may seek
hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation from the Government. Lucy Akatere and Tania
Vini, both 17, and Krishla Fuataha, 16, were jointly convicted of an aggravated
robbery near the Three Kings Mall in Auckland in August, 1999. They spent seven months
in Auckland's Mount Eden Women's Prison before they were granted bail after
their lawyer, Gary Gotlieb, and private investigator Bryan Rowe persuaded
police to reopen the case. The Court of Appeal
subsequently overturned their convictions. Yesterday, Mr Gotlieb
would not say what he believed was a fair compensation, but said it would be
far higher than $60,000 to $70,000. He would not comment on
whether he thought the compensation figure could reach $500,000. Mr Gotlieb said a top
psychologist was still examining the three girls, but it may take several
years to undo the impact of seven months in an adult prison. |
