Darroch Ball
Co-Leader/Spokesperson
Sensible Sentencing Trust
One of the standout stories that dominated headlines this week was the unprovoked coward-punch attack on Fau Vake in Auckland. Vake was waiting for a taxi when he was punched in the back of the head, hospitalised, and has since succumbed to his injuries. A senseless, violent, thuggish attack.
There is no other reason for a totally unprovoked ‘coward-punch’ than to seriously injure an innocent person. Added to this is the knowledge that these coward-punches have been well documented to cause death – there need to be specific offences and harsher sentences for these types of attacks.
Far too often we see lesser charges being laid due to there being no specific charge or plea deals because of the improbability of securing a conviction. Added frustration comes when we see sentences reduced and ending with little if any jail time at all.
The Sensible Sentencing Trust has been promoting and advocating for new ‘coward punch’ laws that would see a specific offence in cases of an attack causing death, as well as for these types of attacks causing injury. It is important to ensure minimum mandatory prison time for these types of attacks to show that we as a society simply won’t take these thuggish, violent, deadly attacks anymore.
Those critical of stronger sentences for coward punches, or even specific offences for coward punches, often claim that ‘deterrents don’t work with these types of assaults’.
There are a few key points to highlight about this resistance. First is that deterrents do work to varying degrees, depending on the type of offence. The argument that this wouldn’t act as a deterrent at all is just plain nonsense. But the most important point that the nay-sayers are missing, is that the proposed ‘coward punch’ law is not solely intended as a deterrent. It is also intended to bring justice for the victims and their families, to hold the offenders to account for their cowardly actions, and most importantly to get these violent thugs off our streets. There can be no denying that harsher sentences will do all of those things.
The Sensible Sentencing Trust has a piece of legislation ready to go that brings a new definition of a coward-punch causing death and brings in a minimum mandatory five-year prison sentence for anyone who injures someone by way of a coward punch.
A petition to bring this legislation in gained more than fourteen thousand signatures in just a couple of days and shows that a new approach to these types of attacks is well backed by the public who are screaming out for more accountability and to get these thugs off our streets.
We need to demand more action from our government.
They have the ability to steer the focus of law enforcement, the intent of the laws in our country and the purpose of our justice system. The slow boil has been steady and unrelenting in the shift of focus to the offender-centric nature of our current system.
If we are to see any meaningful change we need to ensure victims are central to the purpose of the justice system, which will then allow justice, accountability, and safety of the community to be the true priorities.
Unfortunately what we are seeing at present is the priority of emptying our prisons, lowering of sentences, and the rights and considerations of the offender being paramount. The result? A breeding ground for gangs, crime, and thugs to commit violence on our streets with little fear.
Petition · New Zealand Government : Harsher ‘Coward-Punch’ laws needed in New Zealand · Change.org
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