Protection orders should be just that

Karen Edwards (left) holds a photo of her daughter Ashlee as the petition for tougher laws on protection order breaches was presented at Parliament. Photo / Supplied

Tougher penalties for those who breach protection orders are needed before "a piece of paper" becomes a real deterrent, a Northland mum says.

Karen Edwards, of Okaihau, accompanied by another mother Ann Hodgetts - whose daughter was killed by domestic violence - presented a petition with more than 2000 signatures to Parliament in July last year.

On April 1 the two mothers will appear before Parliament's law and order select committee to speak to their submission, in a bid to have protection order breaches added to the three strikes law. They want tougher penalties for offenders who breach a protection order three times in three years, saying offenders should be jailed for a minimum of three years.

"The laws, as they stand, are not sufficient and the judges aren't enforcing them. If men are hell-bent on getting to a woman and are relentless they seem to get away with it," Mrs Edwards said.

"Protection orders are just a piece of paper and it physically doesn't stop them."

The petition called for a first breach resulting in a strike warning and confiscation of the offender's cell phone and computer. A second breach within three years would bring a second strike warning and a $5000 fine, paid to the victim, or a compulsory six-month jail term. A third strike in three years would attract a minimum of three years' jail. Currently, breaching a protection order is punishable by a maximum of three years' jail.

"I've had so many people contacting me saying they are living in fear because of the breaches of protection orders," Mrs Edwards said.

Mrs Edwards' daughter Ashlee, 21, mother of two girls, was found dead under the Tarewa Rd bridge in Whangarei on July 2012.

Two months before her death, Ashlee made two complaints to police that a former partner had breached a protection order by sending text and voice messages. The Independent Police Conduct Authority found that complaints by Ashlee Edwards about protection order breaches had not been properly investigated. Jimmy Akuhata has been charged with Ashlee Edwards' murder. The trial begins in the Whangarei High Court next month.