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Focus on Police
Competence |
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Three young Auckland women who
were wrongly jailed have accepted compensation ranging between $162,000 and
$176,000 each, Justice Minister Mark Burton announced today. Lucy Akatere, Tania Vini and
McCushla Fuataha each served seven months after being falsely convicted of
the aggravated robbery of a 16-year-old girl in Three Kings shopping mall in
Auckland in August 1999. Ms Vini and Ms Fuataha were 14 at
the time and Ms Akatere was 15. In October 2001 the Court of
Appeal quashed the trio's convictions, offering them the court's sympathy
after being "let down by the system". "I am glad that this matter
has been resolved and I wish the young women well in the future," Mr
Burton said. He said it was concerning that the
compensation took so long and blamed that on advice the women received. "This is even though it was
clear that the level of compensation initially offered was fair and
reasonable when assessed alongside Cabinet criteria," he said. "This was confirmed by a High
Court judgment in 2005 relating to the compensation offer." Mr Burton said a standard process
was followed. First a QC was commissioned to assess eligibility, then an
independent lawyer – Kristy McDonald QC – was appointed and confirmed they
should be compensated. In 2003 Ms McDonald QC recommended
$135,000 be paid to Ms Vini and Ms Akatere for loss of liberty, reputation
loss or interruption of relationships and for mental and emotional harm. She recommended Ms Fuataha get a
bit more – $137,500 – because she got a longer sentence and was accused of
wounding the victim. Ms McDonald also recommended
reimbursement of legal and investigator costs. In 2004 the Government offered the
compensation but it was not accepted and court action followed. In December 2005 the High Court
declined the application for review of the Cabinet decision. Further action was taken on the
grounds of how the legal costs were calculated but again the court ruled in
the Crown's favour. The final payouts would be
$176,621.36 for Ms Vini, $162,830.36 for Ms Akatere and $165,330 for Ms
Fuataha. These figures included pecuniary
losses – Ms Vini's were nearly $42,000 and the other two nearly $30,000 each.
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