Family glad killer won't get $150,000

Eva Bradley
The family of murdered Napier man Conquest Tuau say the refusal to award his killer, Ra O'Dowd, $150,000 for alleged physical abuse while in Paparua Prison is justice for them.
Tiana Ryan was only six years old when O'Dowd and co-offender Shaun Jacobs beat her father to death in an Emerson Street flat in 1994. Now 16, she told Hawke's Bay Today that the compensation case should never have been heard in the first place.
"Thanks to Mr O'Dowd and Mr Jacobs, I will never know how things would have been if my Dad was still here today. There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about it. People that murder other people with no reason shouldn't even have the right to be heard," said Miss Ryan.
Her mother, Diane Ryan, said the compensation case had re-opened old wounds and her family, now living in Sydney, had been unable to sleep while they waited to hear the outcome of the Christchurch hearing.
"I'm so grateful that the judge really took some time out and looked into this case. I've been walking around the house wondering what's been happening in New Zealand. This decision is justice not for me, but for my kids and mostly for Conquest," said Mrs Ryan.
Ra O'Dowd brought the case against the crown after alleging he had been dragged from his prison cell, restrained and stripped naked in front of other prisoners during a training session by the prison's Emergency Response Unit (ERU), also known as the goon squad.
O'Dowd sought $150,000 in damages.
In a written judgment released today, Judge David Saunders found O'Dowd failed to establish any of the four "causes of action" brought against the Attorney-General.
These were assault and battery, negligence, breach of the Bill of Rights, and breach of statutory duty.
The judge said he was unable to accept O'Dowd's version of events relating to his conduct before his cell had been entered and in the course of his being physically restrained.
"I have found that the use of force was not excessive and certainly not of the kind described by Mr O'Dowd," Judge Saunders said.
"I am satisfied that the officers carried out what is described as a standard control and restraint operation. (Alistair) Thompson, as the first officer into the cell, used his shield to push Mr O'Dowd on to the bed while the other officers efficiently moved his legs and placed his arms behind his back in order that handcuffs could be applied."
Judge Saunders said it seemed appropriate procedure for O'Dowd to be undressed for a change of clothing or a strip-search.
"I accept that a towel was used to cover (O'Dowd) when his lower clothing was removed."
O'Dowd's lawyer John McDowell could not be reached for comment today.
The Department of Corrections said it was "obviously pleased with the outcome," but would need time to review the full decision before commenting further.
The controversial goon squad, disbanded in June 2000, was the subject of a damning State Services Commission inquiry last year.
In an employment court case in May 2002, goon squad member Ian Ingham said he felt the night raid on the east wing of the prison, when O'Dowd was restrained, had been unnecessary and heightened tensions between inmates and the squad.
It was a turning point where "things started to go wrong", Mr Ingham said.
O'Dowd, 50, was jailed with a 13-year non-parole period in 1994 after a jury found he beat his flatmate, Conquest Tuau, to death.
Mr Tuau died in hospital after a two-hour beating, a High Court jury in Napier found.