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The focus of the news item is that its 'unfair' on the offender.
Note the total lack of mention of the victims. No input from them at any point.
Also that he KNEW this would happen, but he still went ahead and did it anyway. Which makes him not just Dumb, but Ignorant and Impulsive. As well as being a Violent Pack Predator.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/8605255/Anger-at-14-year-strike-2-warning
Anger at 14-year strike 2 warning
The controversial "three strikes" legislation has seen a young man jailed without parole and warned that if he steals another skateboard, hat or cellphone he will spend 14 years behind bars.
In issuing Elijah Akeem Whaanga, 21, his second strike, Judge Tony Adeane told the Hastings man his two "street muggings" that netted "trophies of minimal value" meant his outlook was now "bleak in the extreme".
"When you next steal a hat or a cellphone or a jacket or a skateboard you will be sent to the High Court and there you will be sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment without parole," Judge Adeane said.
Justice Minister Judith Collins said the case showed the law was working. Sensible Sentencing Trust spokesman Garth McVicar agreed, saying the sentence of two-and-a-half years' jail with no parole was "fantastic".
Victoria University criminology professor John Pratt said the case "highlighted fundamental problems" with the law.
"Was this really the type of offender that the three strikes law was meant to protect us from?"
Whaanga's offending stretches back to 2006, including burglary, theft, resisting arrest and indecent assault. He served a short prison sentence in early 2010.
In July that year, he and an accomplice committed aggravated robbery. Whaanga punched the victim in the head multiple times before taking $68. For that he earned his first strike in December 2010 and was sentenced to jail for two years and one month.
He was freed on parole in April last year. The Parole Board said he had behaved well in prison, where he had resided in the Maori Focus Unit. He had completed a drug programme and a Maori therapeutic programme and was released on a number of conditions for six months.
Four months later he committed two aggravated robberies with two separate accomplices.
The first involved taking a skateboard, hat and cigarette lighter from the victim after trying unsuccessfully to remove the victim's jacket. The second involved Whaanga kicking the victim in the back of his leg and taking his hat and cellphone.
Whaanga pleaded guilty to two charges of aggravated robbery and was sentenced in Napier District Court on April 18.
Professor Warren Bucklands of Auckland University's Faculty of Law said Whaanga's case made a mockery of its promoters' claim that it would target only "the worst of the worst".
"Whaanga's case is an inevitable consequence of the way in which the legislation was drafted and, what's more, was known to Parliament when it was passed," he said.
Rethinking Crime and Punishment spokesman Kim Workman said the public needed to think about the cost of locking someone up for 14 years for robbing a boy of a cap and a cellphone.
While some will say Whaanga will not reoffend if he knows he's on his third strike, no one knew what he was likely to do given that about 40 per cent of young offenders had neuro-disability disorders such as foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, for which they were not tested, Workman said.
Sentencing policy expert Wayne Goodall said Whaanga's case highlighted the injustice of the law and "we will inevitably see instances of individuals serving lengthy sentences out of all proportion to the actual behaviour".
Labour's justice spokesman Andrew Little said there was a concerning increase in random violence and it was clear Whaanga needed treatment.
THREE STRIKES
The Sentencing and Parole Reform Act 2010, or the "three strikes act", came into force on June 1, 2010.
It meant any offender aged 18 or over who committed one of 40 offences, including all major and sexual offences, would receive a strike on their first conviction.
A second strike would see the offender serving their full sentence without parole.
On a third strike, a judge must impose the maximum penalty.
It must be served without parole unless the court believes that would be manifestly unjust.
The bill was strongly opposed by Labour, the Greens and the Maori Party.
By the end of last month there were 2684 offenders on their first strike and 17 on their second strike.
Note the total lack of mention of the victims. No input from them at any point.
Also that he KNEW this would happen, but he still went ahead and did it anyway. Which makes him not just Dumb, but Ignorant and Impulsive. As well as being a Violent Pack Predator.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/8605255/Anger-at-14-year-strike-2-warning
Anger at 14-year strike 2 warning
The controversial "three strikes" legislation has seen a young man jailed without parole and warned that if he steals another skateboard, hat or cellphone he will spend 14 years behind bars.
In issuing Elijah Akeem Whaanga, 21, his second strike, Judge Tony Adeane told the Hastings man his two "street muggings" that netted "trophies of minimal value" meant his outlook was now "bleak in the extreme".
"When you next steal a hat or a cellphone or a jacket or a skateboard you will be sent to the High Court and there you will be sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment without parole," Judge Adeane said.
Justice Minister Judith Collins said the case showed the law was working. Sensible Sentencing Trust spokesman Garth McVicar agreed, saying the sentence of two-and-a-half years' jail with no parole was "fantastic".
Victoria University criminology professor John Pratt said the case "highlighted fundamental problems" with the law.
"Was this really the type of offender that the three strikes law was meant to protect us from?"
Whaanga's offending stretches back to 2006, including burglary, theft, resisting arrest and indecent assault. He served a short prison sentence in early 2010.
In July that year, he and an accomplice committed aggravated robbery. Whaanga punched the victim in the head multiple times before taking $68. For that he earned his first strike in December 2010 and was sentenced to jail for two years and one month.
He was freed on parole in April last year. The Parole Board said he had behaved well in prison, where he had resided in the Maori Focus Unit. He had completed a drug programme and a Maori therapeutic programme and was released on a number of conditions for six months.
Four months later he committed two aggravated robberies with two separate accomplices.
The first involved taking a skateboard, hat and cigarette lighter from the victim after trying unsuccessfully to remove the victim's jacket. The second involved Whaanga kicking the victim in the back of his leg and taking his hat and cellphone.
Whaanga pleaded guilty to two charges of aggravated robbery and was sentenced in Napier District Court on April 18.
Professor Warren Bucklands of Auckland University's Faculty of Law said Whaanga's case made a mockery of its promoters' claim that it would target only "the worst of the worst".
"Whaanga's case is an inevitable consequence of the way in which the legislation was drafted and, what's more, was known to Parliament when it was passed," he said.
Rethinking Crime and Punishment spokesman Kim Workman said the public needed to think about the cost of locking someone up for 14 years for robbing a boy of a cap and a cellphone.
While some will say Whaanga will not reoffend if he knows he's on his third strike, no one knew what he was likely to do given that about 40 per cent of young offenders had neuro-disability disorders such as foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, for which they were not tested, Workman said.
Sentencing policy expert Wayne Goodall said Whaanga's case highlighted the injustice of the law and "we will inevitably see instances of individuals serving lengthy sentences out of all proportion to the actual behaviour".
Labour's justice spokesman Andrew Little said there was a concerning increase in random violence and it was clear Whaanga needed treatment.
THREE STRIKES
The Sentencing and Parole Reform Act 2010, or the "three strikes act", came into force on June 1, 2010.
It meant any offender aged 18 or over who committed one of 40 offences, including all major and sexual offences, would receive a strike on their first conviction.
A second strike would see the offender serving their full sentence without parole.
On a third strike, a judge must impose the maximum penalty.
It must be served without parole unless the court believes that would be manifestly unjust.
The bill was strongly opposed by Labour, the Greens and the Maori Party.
By the end of last month there were 2684 offenders on their first strike and 17 on their second strike.