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Focus on
Police Competence |
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Three young women
jailed for a crime they did not commit have rejected compensation of more
than $100,000 each and are challenging the way the Government reached the
figure. A claim filed in the
High Court in Auckland shows Lucy Akatere and Tania Vini were offered
$135,000 each, and McCushla Fuataha was offered $137,500. Their lawyer has
indicated the $1 million paid to Arthur Allan Thomas, wrongly convicted of
double murder, is a benchmark for compensation but said the amount was for
the court to decide. Akatere, Vini and
Fuataha served seven months in prison after being jointly convicted of an
aggravated robbery in Three Kings in August 1999. Akatere was aged 15 at
the time and her co-accused were aged 14. The case was reopened
after a witness admitted she lied and the three were proven to have been
nowhere near the scene of the attack. The Court of Appeal
overturned the convictions in 2001 and told the girls: "We offer our
sympathy." The amount of
compensation offered by the government last year was recommended by
Wellington QC Kristy McDonald, who was asked to apply government criteria and
recommend the appropriate ex gratia payment. Ms McDonald recommended
the amounts, a public statement of the trio's innocence and an apology by the
Crown. The women rejected the
offer and described it as "both seriously inadequate and unlawful".
They claim the
government guidelines used to reach the compensation figure are
"unlawful, irrational and unfair" and that they were not correctly
applied in reaching the recommended amounts. The women want the
court to declare the recommendations unlawful and invalid, and quash them. Their lawyer, Gary
Gotlieb, said the Government had ignored opinions by three QCs - Rodney
Harrison, Richard Craddock and Bill Wilson - on behalf of the women. "The figure offered
in comparison to what happened to the girls was grossly understated. "Not only did the
girls have the seven-odd months in prison, they had all that terrible time
beforehand where they really lost their education and lost all their
opportunities that at that age you have. (They were) ostracised by fellow
students, it just makes you very sad." Mr Gotlieb said he did
not believe the case would set a precedent. "How often are you
going to get girls of that age getting wrongfully convicted?" In reaction Justice
Minister Phil Goff said the women were each offered total compensation of
over $160,000, including costs, and that was considered appropriate. The offer was based on
criteria established by Cabinet a number of years ago, Mr Goff said through a
spokesman. The Government would
vigorously defend the action in court, he said. |
