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Focus on Police
Competence |
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Cushla Fuataha, Lucy Akatere and Tania
Kavi were jailed for a crime they did not commit.
Three young girls jailed for a
crime they did not commit have accepted an offer of compensation from the
government. Tania Vini, Lucy Akatere and McCushla Fuataha have accepted
compensation ranging between $162,000 and $176,000 each after a long battle
for an increase on the initial amount offered. Ms Vini will receive $176,621.36,
Ms Akatere will receive $162,830.36, and Ms Fuataha will receive $165,330,
Justice Minister Mark Burton said today. The trio, then teenagers, were
convicted in August 1999 for the aggravated robbery of a 16-year-old girl in
Mt Roskill. They served eight months in prison
and were unable to finish school after being convicted of the gang attack and
robbery of the teenage girl in Three Kings in August 1999. They were acquitted in 2001, when
the witness admitted she had lied, and the three were proven to have been
nowhere near the scene. After they were acquitted the
government recommended compensation of $135,000 for Ms Vini and Ms Akatere
and $137,500 for Ms Fuataha and a Government statement confirming their
innocence. Later that month the Cabinet policy committee agreed to make an ex
gratia payment in terms of the recommendation, on condition that the girls
take no further legal action against the Crown. The trio turned down the
offer. |
