NEW ASSAULT LEGISLATION

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33675, 26 October 1974, Page 3

NEW ASSAULT LEGISLATION

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, October 25. A new summary offence of assaulting a police officer, prison officer, or traffic officer in the execution of his duty is included in the Police Offences Amendment Bill, introduced into Parliament today.

The penalty is imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or a fine not exceeding §4OO, but there is to be no right of jury trial. i The penalty already exists in relation to the summary offence of common assault. The Minister of Justice (Dr Finlay) said that section 77 of the Police Offences Act already contained an offence of assaulting a constable in the execution of his duty. But the maximum penalty was only half that for common assault. The police wanted the two penalties to be aligned to remove any suggestion that the specific offence of assault on a constable was viewed less seriously than the general offence of common asault, Dr Finlay said. The Leader of the Opposition (Mr Muldoon) and Mr D. S. Thomson (Nat., Stratford) both called for stiffer penalties for subsequent offences of assaults on police. These should have a deterrent effect. Some people deliberately placed themselves in a position where they could I assault police, even if only jin a minor way, Mr Mul'doon said. I Mr Thomson said there ( should be specific provision (where a second offence

would be more seriously dealt with.