Man stabs his 3 Kids – Mother says – His eyes were black, and he didn’t appear human anymore
6th March 2018
But for the quick actions of police and emergency services a 7-week-old baby, an 18-month-old and a 3-year-old would not
have survived the horrific knife and machete attack carried out on them by their own father Fa’amanu Milford.
Milford was initially charged with kidnapping and 3 charges of attempted murder but was convicted on the lesser charges
of grievous bodily harm. The mother believes it was attempted murder.
The Sensible Sentencing Group Trust’s National Victim Advocate Leigh Woodman said “This unbelievably brutal, cruel and
merciless man is due to be released from prison on the 21st of March because he will have served the full sentence
imposed on him. It is chilling just thinking about it.”
The Parole Board have kept Milford in prison till his sentence release date; surely this is a major indicator of just
how dangerous he is. The Parole Board decision talked of Milford’s ongoing difficulty with hearing voices, his limited
coping skills and isolation from community support.
The mother of the children said she has little doubt that he will seek to find her when he is released, and Police agree
with her fears saying they are very aware of the very real danger he poses, and that Milford is an extremely violent man
who poses a real threat of re-offending.
The victim said, “His eyes were black, and he didn’t appear human anymore.” She is so scared of him and what he is
capable of doing, that she has moved her family to a safer location away from all they know, because she doesn’t have
faith in the system as it stands, and she is desperate to try and keep her and her beautiful children safe from further
harm.
Leigh said, “For them it’s not over, it will never be over; these brave little children and their mum live not only with
the emotional damage he inflicted on them but also the physical damage, some of it ongoing and requiring hospitalisation
and surgery.”
The Sensible Sentencing Trust believe Milford poses a very real danger to himself, his victims and the community at
large and want to see Mental Health authorities urgently review their decision in this case to consider whether Milford
should be held under a compulsory treatment order or sectioned under the Mental Health Act. We believe community mental
health oversite of Milford simply will not be enough to keep people safe and fear the possible outcome of the current
decision. The Trust believe that essentially the Parole Board have done all in their power to keep the victims and the
community safe, as have the Department of Corrections, now it’s up to the DHB to do something about this.
Prisons were built and are run by Corrections to house prisoners who have offended; for those offenders to serve the
sentence for the crime they committed, to keep society safe from them and to provide rehabilitation, always keeping in
mind we need to accept there are some offenders that simply cannot be rehabilitated, and we believe Milford is one of
them.
A study of New Zealand prisoners conducted by the Department of Corrections showed that up to 70% of prisoners had drug
and/or alcohol problems and a significant number have mental health issues. Corrections were not set up to deal with
this and are copping a lot of the brunt for what we consider to be a systemic issue within our current system.
Until the system and the laws around this issue are reviewed, we fear this type of chilling horror will happen to other
families. ENDS
ends