Further moves to toughen law on violence

Press, 20 December 1986, Page 1

Further moves to toughen law on violence

PA Wellington • The Government last evening made further moves to toughen penalties for violent offending.

The sentencing proposals, contained in the Criminal Justice Amendment Bill, follow growing public concern about violent offending. The Minister of Justice, Mr Palmer, said recent Justice Department research had disclosed some disquieting evidence about certain types of offenders.

A study of 643 rapists convicted between 1966 and 1985 had revealed that not only were more rapists being convicted but a big and increasing proportion of those offenders had previous convictions for violence.

Forty-six per cent of all rapists convicted had a previous conviction for a

violent offence. Like other violent offenders, rapists tended to be young with 69 per cent being aged under 25.

Mr Palmer last evening introduced the bill to Parliament to make changes in the law relating to the imposition and administration of sentences for violent offences.

Under the present law preventive detention can be imposed only on a person aged 25 years or more and then for only a second or subsequent conviction for a specified sexual offence. Mr Palmer said it was clear that the limits on that sentence must be pared.

Under the new bill a sentence of preventive detention (a sentence of indeterminate length) will be available for any offender aged over 20. It will apply also to a widened range of sexual offences and the most serious of violent non-sexual offences in the Crimes Act, such as wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm. The bill gives the Parole Board the power to order a person imprisoned on a finite sentence not be released until the last day of that sentence.

That would apply to any inmate whom the board was satisfied was likely to commit a specified offence if released before the expiry date of sentence.

Mr Palmer said the new changes did not necessarily cover every

conceivable social problem caused by violent offending.

The proposals were not “carved in marble” and he expected public views might lead to an improvement of these provisions. Mr Paul East (Nat., Rotorua) said his party supported the introduction of the bill.

It was, however, only one small step in the battle against a surge of violent offending, he said.

“We need the attention of Parliament to be directed on a wide range of issues if we are to tackle the problem.” Mr East said the bill was a reversal for the Government, which only a year ago was talking of abolishing preventive detention.

The bill was a knee-jerk response to public pressure, he said.