In October last year the Sensible Sentencing Trust congratulated then Justice Minister Simon Power and the National led government for their proposed tightening of access to bail in The Bail Amendment Bill. The Bill was put forward to see restrictions placed on access to bail for those charged with serious crimes such as murder and the onus placed on the arrested suspect to prove they are not a risk to the community before being granted bail.

Tragically, within weeks, 18 year old Christie Marceau was killed. Her alleged murderer, 18 year old Akshay Anand Chand had been released on bail to his mother’s address - within 1km of Christie’s family home. This was despite strenuous police opposition to bail and that fact that he had previously been charged with kidnapping Christie earlier in the year.

When announcing the changes Simon Power stated that “These changes will improve public confidence in the bail system and ensure that bail will be harder to get in marginal cases where the court would previously have had no choice but to release a defendant on bail." Sadly, the proposed changes did not come soon enough and Christie became yet another innocent murder victim. At the same time the lives of those close to Christie were irreparably damaged. If ever we needed a reminder that these changes are of paramount importance it has been the tragic murder of Christie Marceau.

The first draft of the new bail laws is now going before Parliament. While the Sensible Sentencing Trust acknowledge that it is a step in the right direction, sadly, it does not go far enough to protecting law-abiding citizens and in its present form would be unlikely to prevent another case like Christie’s.

To highlight the need for stronger changes in this area of the law, and to show your support for this cause, please come along to Parliament grounds at 1pm on Tuesday 29th May. Come and support the Marceau family, hear their story, and send a strong message to our law-makers that we need urgent, positive change in this area of our law. Please do not be apathetic and think that you can’t make a difference – believe me, you can. In the words of Dr. Jim Boren “Public apathy is more powerful than public opinion. There's more of it.”

Remember: every crime committed whilst a suspect is released on bail is one too many, and preventable. Bail needs to be regarded as a privilege, not a right. Come along on Tuesday to show that you support this view as well.

New Zealand once was, and can be again, one of the safest countries in the world if we have the will and determination to stand up against crime and refuse to accept it as a part of our lives. We all have a right to be safe within our own homes, streets, and communities in a New Zealand safe from crime. The Sensible Sentencing Trust will continue to fight for that right and advocate for a tough stance to be taken against those who live their lives on the wrong side of the law.

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Murray Tennent-Brown
Sensible Sentencing Trust
Wellington Region

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