Compensation for criminal acts decried

Press, 20 August 1986, Page 46

Compensation for criminal acts decried

PA Auckland Thousands of dollars in accident compensation is being paid to drunken drivers and criminals, an Auckland researcher says. Mr Lloyd Grenlie, a dentist formerly employed by the Auckland Hospital Board, organised a petition seven years ago to amend the Accident Compensation Act

He is now about to publish a book on law, punishment and accident compensation using 11 years of research to show that many people hurt while committing criminal offences were receiving big compensation payouts. “If someone severs an artery breaking into a jeweller’s or a chemist’s window they just say they were cut by broken glass

and get thousands of dollars, ” he said. "The 1982 amendment which gave the (Accident Compensation) Corporation the right to discriminate against criminals in payouts is a farce.” Mr Grenlie said he spent much of his time at Auckland Hospital wiring jaws and repairing damage from fists and bottles. "I became increasingly angry about the huge amounts of motley being paid out to thugs, murderers, burglars ;and drunken drivers. “This money is being taken away from deserving, hard-working New Zealanders who are not involved in crime and who have to wait for hospital beds or spend their savings on private hospitals.”