Sensible Sentencing Trust for a safe crime free New Zealand

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"There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come" - Victor Hugo

In 1991 in Owaka in South Otago, 15 year old Kylie Smith was abducted by Paul Bailey, raped, and then killed. Bailey was on bail for attempted rape at the time. The Smith family along with many supporters started a petition for tougher sentences and no parole for offenders of this type. It got almost 300,000 signatures by the time it was presented to parliament in 1992. No significant changes or reforms in the justice system were made....

And still a family waits.........

In 1997 in central Christchurch, 71 year old Nan Withers, was attacked with a crowbar by Harry Houkamau while minding her son's menswear shop. Houkamau was out on parole from an armed robbery at the time. Her son Norm Withers instigated the Law and Order Referendum at the 1999 election. 92% of voters voted "yes" to the referendum question, which once again asked for tough mandatory minimum sentences, and for extensive justice reforms in favour of the victims of crime, along with hard labour for serious violent offenders.

This Labour Government at first tried to deny that the result was significant, and then passed the very seriously flawed Sentencing and Parole Bill claiming that this was an answer to public concern as expressed in the referendum. This Bill allows offenders to be paroled at one third of their sentence, indeed there has already been an instance of this. We must grant that there have been some good initiatives, such as the DNA legislation, but violent offenders are still being let out on home detention, bail and parole and inevitably they reoffend.....

And still a family waits.........

The Sensible Sentencing Trust was formed in March 2001 by a small group of motivated people with a passion and a vision to help create a patriotic, crime free New Zealand through the promotion of personal responsibility and a better deal for Victims of crime.

Our focus on the sentencing issue at this stage has been a deliberate part of our strategy. By highlighting the ridiculous sentences given to repeat offenders we felt most New Zealanders would identify and understand our message as we raised public awareness and encouraged community ownership.

We realise that harsher penalties alone are not the complete answer, but we believe that sensible sentences must be the first part of the package; we are now expanding our focus into other areas contributing to violent crime. Educating the public is seen as a key factor in achieving our ultimate goal of reducing crime.

The Trust encourages our members to become pro-active ambassadors by educating their respective communities as to the horrific consequences and ongoing effects of violent crime, for those directly involved and the wider community.

Public awareness has been achieved by holding public meetings around the country, and representatives of the organisation have spoken to hundreds of community groups.

Sensible Sentencing Trust is now a nationwide organisation with head office in Napier and co-ordinators in many regions. Everyone who works for the Trust does so on a voluntary basis; financial support comes from membership donations, community groups and individual contributions.

The Sensible Sentencing Trust is strictly a non-political organisation; with IRD approved donee and charitable trust status.

The Trust is absolutely committed to reducing violent crime through community awareness, education and research.

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National Spokesperson and Trustee :	Garth McVicar P.O. Box 701 NAPIER 027 2487919 email garth@sst.org.nz
National Secretary and Trustee :	Wendy Pedler P.O. Box 701 NAPIER (06) 8355521 SST Office (06) 8355520 SST fax 021 2494333 email wendy@sst.org.nz
Lawyer : Keith Jeffries Wellington	Accountants : Gardner Reaney Ltd Chartered Accountants P O Box 192 Napier
Trust Auditor : Gardner Knobloch Ltd Chartered Accountants Phone: 06 835 5018
Assistant to Webmaster and Database researcher	Ross Crosby +0061 42 4993905 email rncrosby@tpg.com.au

With co-ordinators throughout our main regions.

webmaster@sst.org.nz for technical issues regarding this website.

The mission of the Sensible Sentencing Trust is:

"To obtain a large base of community support to ensure safety for all New Zealanders from violent and criminal offending through education, development of effective penal policies, and the promotion of responsible behaviour, accountable parenting and respect for each other at all levels of society".

The only thing necessary for evil to prevail is for good men and women to do nothing

Sensible Sentencing is a Nationwide organisation with membership increasing daily. The time is right, Enough is Enough. This is a people issue, we need you, call 0900 SAFE NZ to join!

Sensible Sentencing for a safe crime free New Zealand

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