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Focus on
Police Competence |
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The Government is
accused of being mean and stubborn over compensation for three girls jailed
for a crime they did not commit. The teenagers spent
seven months in prison before their convictions for aggravated robbery were
quashed. Justice Minister Phil
Goff has offered $160,000 in compensation, for each of the girls. That has been rejected
and the case will now go to court. Bryan Rowe, the private
investigator hired to look into the case, says the police clearly bungled the
investigation, but he says cabinet criteria limits their compensation to just
$100,000. Mr Rowe says anyone who
had been put through the wringer like these girls were, would expect more
than they are being offered. However, the Justice
Minister denies the Government's offer of compensation is miserly. Phil Goff says the
offer balances what the girls went through against the fact that this is
tax-payer money being handed out. He says it was only a
few years ago that no compensation was available. He says we have to be
fair both to the wider population and the girls. He says most New
Zealanders would think a sum equivalent to four years earnings reasonable
compensation for seven months in prison. |
