Herald on Sunday editorial: 'X Factor' singer's confession a botch-up

If Brider survives to sing again he will need more goodwill than he earned last week. Photo / Nathan Crombie

Opinion

Whatever the x-factor for show business success may be, the producers of TV3's talent quest have not got it. They may be congratulating themselves on the publicity their new season's edition has gained by including a contestant who is a convicted killer but they could have handled it so much better.

Shae Brider, now 29, told them when he applied to sing on the show that he had a criminal record. They checked with police and indeed, 11 years ago he and three other youths had caused the death of 16-year-old Jeremy Frew in Whanganui. Brider served six years for manslaughter. When his successful audition was screened on The X Factor last Tuesday, it was accompanied by a pre-recorded "confession".

"I met some dudes and we went to a bonfire," he said. "There was a commotion with two of them and one of them stabbed another and he ended up passing away." A conviction for manslaughter means it was found to be an unintended homicide but nevertheless Brider's televised explanation sounded less than satisfactory.

News media discovered that three other men were assaulted by the group that night in what the judge described as "a rampage of violence". On appeal, Brider was retried, again found guilty and given a longer sentence for his role in the death.

Some of the victim's family watched The X Factor on Tuesday night with no warning that Brider was to appear. Donna Travers was devastated, particularly when she watched Brider describe her dead son as his friend. She said: "My son was scared of him and his mates and said it on the day he was killed."

Brider has not been in serious trouble since his release from prison. He moved to Masterton, married and has a steady job. He was 18 when he committed the crime and he is now approaching 30. His case is not unusual. Rates of criminal offending among young people decline markedly by the age of 30. Maturity comes late to them but it comes.

The producers of The X Factor could have advised Brider not to minimise his role when he explained it to their audience. If they did and he was unable to be more candid and contrite, they ought to have reconsidered putting him on the show.

He and they had a golden opportunity to touch a young audience by facing up honestly to the harm he and his friends had done, the hurt they had caused a family and the death they should never expect to live down. Tonight, the programme will include an apology to the victim's family. But if Brider survives to sing again he will need more goodwill than he earned last week.

So will the show. It has started on a bum note.