For immediate release: 7 June 2013

Sensible Sentencing Trust: Court of Appeal corrects Judge Cunningham’s multiple ‘errors’

The Sensible Sentencing Trust has today expressed its relief that the ridiculously lenient sentence of home detention handed down for a violent robbery by Darren Fidow has been quashed and replaced with a term of imprisonment.

This was a premeditated, violent attack on a vulnerable 82 year old victim whose quality of life will never be the same.  Sensible Sentencing wrote to the Solicitor General in March after public outrage at the original sentence by Judge Philippa Cunningham.

Sensible Sentencing spokesperson, Ruth Money today said: “The Court of Appeal has noted significant errors were made by Judge Cunningham.  Unfortunately, in such an appeal, the Appeal Court is only able to impose a sentence that removes the ‘manifest injustice’ of the original sentence – rather than hand down the most appropriate sentence for the offence committed.  We remain of the view that Mr Fidow should have received a sentence of 4 – 5 years imprisonment for this gratuitous violence and robbery.  He is a serious repeat offender at just 18 years old.

“The Court of Appeal’s decision confirms Judge Cunningham applied discounts and the ‘totality’ principle inappropriately to the offender’s benefit in order to arrive at a sentence of home detention.  Quite rightly, it was found that the “sentencing analysis should not have been driven by that aim.”

The Court stated that a sentence of imprisonment was the “inevitable consequence of correcting an error” made in Judge Cunningham’s sentencing.   We believe common sense should have told her the sentence was manifestly inadequate – it did us.

We would like to thank the Solicitor General and Court of Appeal for restoring a small amount of justice for Mrs Sutcliffe, albeit still minor compared to the ongoing effects she continues to suffer. 

Ruth Money

Sensible Sentencing Trust

www.judgethejudges.co.nz

ENDS

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