The mother of a teenage girl savagely murdered in 1987 is outraged by a demand from one of the killers for compensation for the way he was treated in prison.
Ida Hawkins of Wairoa said yesterday she had never got over the death of her 15-year-old daughter Colleen Burrows, murdered in Napier on June 19, 1987.
"It's made me relive the whole tragedy again - this is terrible," she said, fighting to hold back tears.
Mrs Hawkins said the news had made her feel physically ill and the law needed to be changed.
"They are complaining about their treatment in prison. What about the treatment they gave my daughter? She died a horrific death ... that's the way they treated her. What makes them think they are worthy of compensation? It's so unjust."
Sam Te Hei received a life sentence for Colleen's murder.
A trial was told she was kicked to death after refusing to have sex with a group of gang members and was run over by a car. Her injuries were so bad police were unable to identify her naked body.
Te Hei and 17 other criminals, including his brother, Warren Te Hei, are seeking compensation for being kept in solitary confinement in Paremoremo prison.
In 2000, Warren Te Hei was one of nine prisoners paid compensation for being beaten by guards at Mangaroa Prison in Hawkes Bay.
Mrs Hawkins lost her first husband two years before Colleen was killed. Last year, her only son, Joseph, died in a car crash.
Colleen's sister Tracey was 13 at the time of the murder. She said yesterday Te Hei's bid for compensation made her furious and upset.
"My poor mother has gone to hell and back. Did we get compensation for losing my sister? No. Why should he?
"They killed her with their own bare hands. They should rot in hell."
She said any money Te Hei got should be given to her mother.
- NZPA
Killer's compo angers mother
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