Wrongly jailed girls reject 'woeful' offer

Three girls seeking compensation for serving seven months in jail for a crime they did not commit are now considering suing the Government.

The girls have turned down an offer of compensation from the Government that their lawyer, Gary Gotlieb, yesterday described as woefully inadequate.

He would not reveal what the Government had offered but 18 months ago said his clients may seek hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Mr Gotlieb said he would not call the offer insulting. "I would use the words 'woefully inadequate'. I don't want to inflame it."

Lucy Akatere, 15 at the time of the attack, Tania Vini, 14, and Krishla Fuataha, 14, were jointly convicted of an aggravated robbery near the Three Kings Mall in Auckland in August 1999 and spent seven months in Mt Eden Women's Prison.

They were granted bail after Mr Gotlieb and private investigator Bryan Rowe persuaded police to reopen the case because a witness had lied. The three were nowhere near the crime scene.

The Court of Appeal overturned the convictions when the three presiding judges told the girls: "We offer our sympathy."

Mr Gotlieb said yesterday that the nearly $1 million compensation paid to Arthur Allan Thomas was "to some degree" the benchmark for compensation.

Thomas was pardoned in 1979 for the murder of a Pukekawa couple after twice being convicted.

Mr Gotlieb said the Government had indicated the compensation to the girls was full and final and it had closed the door to further negotiations.

The offer was never in consideration. "It was very much at the low end. We may well have to issue proceedings."

He said it was unfortunate that the claim would have to be pursued through an expensive civil action.

However, "we have to do the right thing for the girls".

The court would be asked to order the Government to meet the costs of the civil action.

Last August Justice Minister Phil Goff appointed Kristy McDonald, QC, to advise him on whether the girls met the criteria for compensation and, if so, the appropriate amounts.

The story so far

* Lucy Akatere, Tania Vini and Krishla Fuataha spent seven months in Mt Eden Women's Prison after being convicted for an aggravated robbery in 1999.

* They argued that they were nowhere near the scene of the crime in the Auckland suburb of Three Kings.

* A witness later said she gave false evidence under police pressure.

* Police apologised after the Court of Appeal quashed the convictions in October 2001.

* Justice Minister Phil Goff said last September that counselling would be part of compensation.

- NZPA