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Focus on Police
Competence |
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Lawyers claim three wrongly jailed
women did not get higher compensation because of their age, race and social
background. Yesterday it was announced that
Lucy Akatere, Tania Vini and McCushla Fuataha are to get payments ranging
between $162,000 and $176,00. Their lawyer Gary Gotlieb has said
the compensation is not enough and he believed the girls had been
"mucked around" because they were young and Polynesian. Another lawyer, Peter Williams QC,
who is also president of the Howard League for penal reform, said today there
was "no doubt the colour of their skin" was a factor and if the
women were people of high status their compensation would have been far
greater. Mr Williams told National Radio
this morning: "I think there is a prejudice against people in what you
may call the lower economic strata, I also think there is a prejudice against
Maori people -- I think there is also a prejudice in this country against
anyone who is a minority group." The women each served seven months
in prison after being falsely convicted of the aggravated robbery of a
16-year-old girl in an Auckland shopping mall in August 1999, before being
cleared in 2001. Mr Williams said an additional
payment should be made because the amount was "very shabby". Three previous legal opinions said
the women should get at least $250,000 each and considering the length of
time the payouts had taken with no interest the payout was inadequate, he
said. However, he wasn't surprised by the outcome. The women had been in prison as
girls and suffered degradation and humiliation of imprisonment. "I won't go into detail but
some of it apparently was pretty awful, they'll have nightmares for the rest
of their lives and this paltry sum that's been paid out is really very
insignificant," he said. 'No evidence' However, Justice Minister Mark
Burton said there was no evidence of racism and the final figure was
determined by an independent QC. Mr Burton said independently
appointed QC Kristy McDonald had looked at all facts of the case in 2003,
made a recommendation that the Government accepted, and the offer was made.
Subsequent court action caused the ongoing delays. Ms Vini and Ms Fuataha were 14 at
the time of their imprisonment and Ms Akatere was 15. In October 2001 the Court of
Appeal quashed the trio's convictions, offering them the court's sympathy
saying they had been "let down by the system". The women in 2003 rejected offers
of between $135,000 and $137,500 in compensation, but decided to stop
fighting for a higher figure in March. The final payouts of $176,600 for
Ms Vini, $162,800 for Ms Akatere and $165,330 for Ms Fuataha included
pecuniary losses. Mr Burton said the claims of
racism were "generalistic" and a fair process was followed. |
