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Focus on
Police Competence |
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A private investigator
says a compensation offer to three young Auckland women jailed for a crime
they did not commit is woefully inadequate. Brian Rowe helped
re-open the investigation which led to the release of Lucy Akatere, Tania
Vini and McCushla Fuataha, who spent seven months in Mount Eden Women's
prison for aggravated robbery of a 16-year-old girl in Mt Roskill back in
2000. They appealed their
convictions on the basis that two principal witnesses had retracted their
testimony. Justice Minister Phil
Goff said the women have rejected an offer of about $160,000 each and have
lodged a claim at the High Court in Auckland for higher compensation. Goff said in a
statement that the offer was in accordance with a report prepared by Kirsty
McDonald QC, who assessed the girls' eligibility for compensation. Rowe said the girls
have had their ups and downs and will not properly get on with their lives
until a fair compensation offer is made. He said the girls were children when
they were thrown into Mount Eden Prison which he says is a hell-hole. |
