Eva Bradley
The mother of murdered Napier girl Colleen Burrows was to plead with politicians today for her daughter's killer - and others like him - not to receive compensation for alleged abuse in prison.
Ida Hawkins hopes that telling her story to a parliamentary select committee hearing submissions on the Prisoners
and Victims Claims Bill will help it pass into law, making it more difficult for prisoners to seek compensation and for victims to sue inmates for the money if they get it.
Mongrel Mob member Sam Te Hei is one of 17 inmates seeking compensation for mistreatment while serving a life sentence in Paremoremo for his role in the brutal bashing of 15-year-old Colleen Burrows in 1987.
Miss Burrows' battered body was found beside the Tutaekuri River after she refused to have sex with Mob members.
"Te Hei says his human rights were breached. Te Hei dumped my little girl on the riverbed and continued to kick and beat her then ran her over with his car. Human rights are for human beings- Te Hei is not a human being," Mrs Hawkins said in her submission.
Mrs Hawkins, now living in Wairoa, said speaking about her daughter's death was not easy but she was determined to add her voice to that of other victim's families speaking in support of the bill.
"It's like reliving the whole tragedy again. It happened 17 years ago and I just thought I'd get on with my life but the compensation claim has stopped that."
The bill was triggered by the $130,000 award last year to five prisoners for mistreatment in solitary confinement, which caused public outrage. Sine then lawyer Tony Ellis has said he intends to advocate for 200 other claims.
The Napier-based Sensible Sentencing Trust has spearheaded a move to outlaw such claims and has encouraged Mrs Hawkins, along with other victim's families, to speak out publicly on the subject.
"It's hugely powerful, for two reasons. It's one way they can affect the future direction that legislation is going but we've found it to also be beneficial in the recovery process because they have a voice. It's a brave politician who doesn't listen to the people who walk the walk, and talk the talk," said trust spokesman, Garth McVicar.
While some families, including the mother of murdered Rotorua girl Tanya Burr, have told the hearing they would keep the money awarded to prisoners if it were handed on to them in a bid to off-set the financial costs incurred after murder, Mrs Hawkins said her motivation was simply to enact a law change and strengthen the rights of victims.
"My family don't want any of the money. We will give it to the Sensible Sentencing Trust. It is the law that allows criminals like Te Hei to get compensation that needs changing," she said.
While the bill is expected to be passed into law later this year, Napier MP Russell Fairbrother, who is on the select committee and as a lawyer successfully represented prison officers accused of abuse and labelled prisoner compensation "entirely appropriate", had concerns about the payouts to victims under the bill. "What worries me is that it makes it a lottery, so that some people who deserve it get compensated and others who deserve it, don't," he said.
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