Hon Tony Ryall MP National Party Law & Order Spokesman

07 September 2005

National calls for independent review

National Party Law and Order spokesman Tony Ryall is calling for an immediate independent review into the Corrections Department's handling of a 17-year-old who raped an 8-year-old girl.

"Corrections has confirmed it knew of allegations about sexual offending by the 17-year-old, yet it failed to warn community work supervisors.

"This department has been completely chaotic under Labour. This dreadful situation must not be allowed to happen again.

"This is not the first time Corrections has failed to protect the public.

"They paroled Arthur Gray to a backpackers' in Nelson without telling anyone. Gray went on to almost kill a German tourist. And they knew about parole breaches by RSA killer William Bell but did nothing to stop them.

"Labour's neglect has left the public exposed to all sorts of criminals on parole and slack supervision of community work.

"It's time for a clean-out.

"National will scrap parole for repeat and violent offenders, and ensure that the department meets its obligations to the public," said Mr Ryall.

ENDS

© Scoop Media