Bay of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford has lodged a new Members’ Bill which would see convicted murderers ineligible for parole if they do not reveal the location of their victim’s body.
Bay of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford has lodged a new Members’ Bill which would see convicted murderers ineligible for parole if they do not reveal the location of their victim’s body.
Bay of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford wants to see convicted murderers ineligible for parole if they do not reveal the location of their victim’s body.
Rutherford has lodged a Members’ Bill that he said would acknowledge the anguish faced by families who did not have a chance to laytheir loved ones to rest.
However, the Criminal Bar Association says “no body” is already a factor the Parole Board can consider before granting someone release and a blanket law change would “likely lead to miscarriages of justice”.
Rutherford told the Bay of Plenty Times: “I’m really pleased to be able to pick it up and get it back into the Members’ Bills Ballot”.
Rutherford believed the Concealment of Location of Victim Remains Bill would be popular for many Kiwis.
“There are families who do not have a chance to lay their loved ones to rest, because of an offender’s refusal to disclose the location of a victim’s remains.”
Rutherford said the Bill would require the Parole Board to take into account a prisoner’s refusal to reveal the location of their victim’s body when considering whether they should be released.
Bay of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford. Photo / Alex Cairns
In a March 27 statement, Rutherford said the Bill would also require the sentencing court to include it as an “aggravating” factor.
Rutherford said the Bill had been modelled on legislation from the United Kingdom and New South Wales, passed in 2020 and 2022 respectively.
“The UK law was brought due to the murder of Helen McCourt, who disappeared in 1988 and whose body has never been recovered.
“The offender was sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 16 years and was released in 2020 and died in 2022, having never revealed the whereabouts of Helen’s body.”
Rutherford said similar legislation was adopted in New South Wales after former Sydney teacher Chris Dawson was convicted in 2022 of murdering his 33-year-old wife, Lynette, who disappeared from their northern beaches home over 40 years ago. Lynette’s body has never been found.
Rutherford said, in his view, the laws had “successfully acted” as incentives for those who concealed the remains of victims to “front up” about their whereabouts and had prevented those who refused to do so from being released on parole.
Asked for evidence that showed the law had been successful overseas, Rutherford said: “If my Bill passes, it will go through a select committee stage where the public and officials can make submissions and provide advice, which will help me make the bill as effective as possible”.
He said the Bill would be “another tool in the toolbox” to ensure the justice system prioritised victims over offenders.
Miscarriages of justice ‘likely’ if Bill passed
Criminal Bar Association vice president Sumudu Thode said such a law change should be “evidence-based” and evidence from overseas suggested it was not effective.
“The no body factor is something the court can already consider at sentencing and the Parole Board can consider prior to granting someone release.”
Thode said such a law change may lead to miscarriages of justice - where defendants were wrongly convicted or they do not know or cannot locate a body.
Examples included if one was charged as a party, the influence of alcohol or drugs, the impact of mental health, or because of the passage of time/disposal of the body due to causes outside of the defendant’s control.
“A blanket law change, without considering the particular facts of the case, will likely lead to miscarriages of justice, resulting in someone spending the rest of their life in prison and denying them the opportunity to return to society.”
Megan Wilson is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.
