INDEPENDENT NEWS

Alexander: Keep Rawiri behind bars

Published: Thu 27 Mar 2003 04:45 PM
United Future MP Marc Alexander today told the Parole Board that if it released the woman who robbed pizza delivery driver Michael Choy as he lay dying, it would be a "bleeding heart experiment on the innocent, law-abiding citizens of New Zealand".
Mr Alexander, who is also a member of the Sensible Sentencing Trust, today attended the hearing for Casie Rawiri at Christchurch Women's Prison, with Mr Choy's mother, Rita Croskery.
Earlier this month, Mr Alexander successfully campaigned against the Parole Board decision to refuse Mrs Croskery access to the hearing. "We know that parole fails 87 percent of the time in terms of reoffending, and with Rawiri having concurrent sentences of four-and-a-half years for this crime, and two-and-a-half years for a robbery, there is no way she should be let out for having served a little over a year.
"We've got to get real about these things, and the Parole Board has to front up and reflect society's demand for criminals to be locked up for longer, not given get-out-of-jail free cards after serving a token sentence," Mr Alexander said.
The Parole Board is expected to release its decision early next week.
Ends.

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