Jayden Meyer case: Crown Law appears before select committee, quizzed on prosecution mistakes

Jayden Meyer was sentenced to 9 months home detention - supported by the Crown Prosecutor in the case. Crown Law says the way the case was handled was a mistake. Photo / Ethan Griffiths

The Crown Law office is working on providing updated guidance to Crown Solicitors after the troubled prosecution of teenage rapist Jayden Meyer, the deputy solicitor-general said today.

Solictor-general Una Jagose and deputy solicitor-general: criminal group Madeleine Laracy appeared before Parliament’s Justice select committee today, where MPs asked questions surrounding the case.

Meyer, who raped four 15-year-old girls and sexually violated another, was sentenced to nine months of home detention earlier this year. Home detention was supported by Crown prosecutor Anna Pollett.

Crown Law later filed a High Court appeal to the case saying Pollett made a mistake and the sentence was “manifestly inadequate”. But that appeal failed as it was filed outside of the statutory appeal timeframe.

At the committee, National’s justice spokesman Paul Goldsmith asked Laracy about the accountability of the prosecutor involved.

Laracy explained the sentencing process within the District Court was flawed as it relied upon the sentencing guidelines of a different court jurisdiction.

While Laracy spoke freely in the committee, media are limited in what can be published due to statutory non-publication orders.

“The position [that Anna Pollett was wrong] was made very clear in public in our sentencing appeal. That’s a very important form of accountability for the Crown prosecutor, and that message has certainly got through.

“We’ve also had a number of discussions, as you would expect.”

Laracy said she is currently working on guidance for all Crown Solicitors on how to deal with cases involving serious young offenders and vulnerable victims.

“I acknowledge the need for clearer guidance for how Crown solicitors, as a matter of their independent judgment and discretion, should be guided to approach those sorts of cases.”

Hundreds of Tauranga students marched against the sentence, saying Meyer should have been sent to prison. Photo / Andrew Warner

When it came to Crown Law’s appeal of the sentence, which was filed six weeks too late, Goldsmith asked if the public outcry informed Crown Law’s late appeal.

“Is there a concern that it really wasn’t seen for the issue that it was until such a time that the public outcry got impossible to ignore, by which time it was too late?”

“The answer to that is by the time the matter came to our attention, it was already out of time,” Laracy responded.

Laracy previously told the High Court that Crown Law became aware of the case a day after Open Justice first revealed the prosecution.

“I’m satisfied that A, this was a difficult sentencing exercise from the start, and that B, the victims were appropriately communicated with.”

Jagose added that while it was clear the appeal was filed too late, Crown Law considered it necessary in the interests of public denunciation.

“There are some important messages that come out here.

“The balance [between denunciation and rehabilitation] in this case was not right.”