Criminal Nonfeasance

That Which Beggars Belief

There are aspects of the New Zealand penal system which are despicable.  We long ago abolished the death penalty for murder.  Life imprisonment without parole is the most severe judicial sentence available.  The penal authorities strenuously labour to ensure that no-one spends the rest of their natural life in prison. 

Here is a case which strains credulity to the limit:

Dunedin student killer George Charles Trounson paroled for seventh time

Hamish McNeilly
Stuff

A man who bashed his teen flatmate to death has been granted parole for the seventh time.

George Charles Trounson, 45, is serving a life sentence of imprisonment for the murder of Russell Neil, 17, in Dunedin in June 1990.  Trounson was 18 when he bashed Neil to death with a broken balustrade. He was sentenced on February 26, 1991.

The New Zealand Parole Board noted Trounson's "unsatisfactory history on parole" in a decision released this week.  Trounson was previously released six times and recalled to prison after breaching the terms of his parole.  He was first released in March 2001 and was recalled in February 2006 – the longest time he spent in the community in recent years.  Subsequent recalls varied between three-and-a-half months and nine months.

His first release resulted in the longest period of freedom--five years.  Since that time he has been paroled another five times, and the longest time out was only nine months.  But--and this is the class working definition of insanity--the Parole Board decided that he should once again be paroled.  This time, things will be different.

The most recent recall, in December 2013, came after Trounson spent almost 11 months on the run from authorities.  The main factor in his offending and recalls was alcohol.

And the pattern of behaviour upon release is that he drinks, and thereby breaches parole.  We are not told whether he engaged in other offending whilst on the run.  And think of the amount of time and effort and distraction for the Police in finding him again after he has taken off.  Is our parole system run by mentally incapacitated people?

The board noted a positive shift in his behaviour and attitude. He had engaged with support providers.  The board noted it was "really his last chance".

Bollocks.  The behaviour to date of the Parole Board makes this threat an empty bluster.  We expect on the balance of probabilities that shortly Trounson will again drink, then abscond and we will go through the cycle all over again.  We also predict that he will breach bail and be re-arrested, then be bailed again a further 30 times, until the end of his natural life, such is the capacious credulity of the Parole Board.

His long-term goal was to attend university to gain qualifications in water resource management. He was likely to work as an arborist in the immediate future.  The board would release Trounson this month, who would be subject to the standard parole conditions for life.

Trounson, who would be electronically monitored, would be subject to special conditions for five years post-release, including counselling and not possessing, consuming and/or using alcohol, illicit drugs or psychoactive substances.

In New Zealand we have a "Three Strikes Law" which requires the maximum permissible sentence to be applied if one continues to commit serious crimes.  The left wing parties--which are to a man soft on crime and criminals--want to repeal it as soon as they get a chance.  The judiciary appears to be equally soft on crime.  In the cases which have come to the bench requiring the maximum severity of sentence under the Three Strikes Law all have been overridden by justices using their discretion--a "let off" which was always intended to be used extremely sparingly.  This track record by the judiciary leads one to the reasonable conclusion that the judiciary itself is as soft on crime as left-wing politicians and the Parole Board.

When it comes to parole, we are desperately in need of another three-strikes law: if an offender breaches parole twice, he or she will lose all rights of parole from that time onward for the rest of their respective natural life.  They will be required to serve out the specified terms of their sentence.

And, oh, one more reform is required: if parole has been granted to an offender and he is on his final Third Strike for breaching parole conditions, and he or she subsequently breaches, all members of the Parole Board must be charged with criminal nonfeasance and fined accordingly.

[For the record, we are not averse to making life in prison as meaningful and fulfilling as possible, within the limits of incarceration.   The system might well encourage someone like Trounson to get a tertiary qualification in water resource management, if that is what he wished--but from inside.  He could also be put to useful tasks, like tutoring other inmates in water resource management, as he learns.  To date, he has proven himself to be a glacially slow learner.  So, a long time of proving up, plus a positive contribution to others within the prisons as he serves the rest of his sentence without parole is the just and right and proportional way forward.]