Bailey Kurariki’s alleged sexual violation of two female journalists, raises serious questions about the Heralds judgement, in sending female staff unsupported to Bailey’s house,” said Kim Workman, Rethinking Crime and Punishment.

“But when you look at the Heralds past persecution of him, sending two female reporters without male escorts, in the expectation that Bailey would not react negatively in some way, is beyond comprehension. This is a volatile young man with a seriously sick mother.”

“Bailey Kurariki dislikes the media, and hates the Herald. It was the Herald that surreptitiously photographed him at he dead brother’s graveside. It was the Herald who photographed him paddling in a child’s paddling pool at his home. And it was the Herald who hassled him leaving Court to the extent that he spat at them.”

No one who knows Bailey has ever known him to commit an offence of this kind. If the allegation is true, then it would seem to be a reaction to an extremely stressful situation. Given Bailey’s situation, he could only have seen it as yet another violation of privacy. The two women were fortunate not to have suffered serious physical injury.”

“The Herald have shown themselves to be uncaring of the safety of their staff, and lacking insight into the way institutionalised offenders may react to people from a profession which represents everything they hate about the world. Moreover it raises once again, the question of why we continue to hassle released prisoners, and then pretend to be amazed when they react negatively.”

ENDS

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