Ministry of Health Twist the Knife into Grieving Family.

Confirmation this week that Christie Marceaus killer is receiving leave from a secure mental health facility comes as no surprise to victim advocate Graeme Moyle.

Akshay Chand was acquitted of the 2011 killing of the Auckland teenager by reason of insanity and sentenced to be detained as a special patient in Auckland’s Mason Clinic under mental health Legislation.

“The only surprise to me is that it has taken so long” said Moyle whose brother was also the victim of an insane killer.

Colin Moyle’s killer, Matthew Ahlquist, was granted unescorted leave by the Director of mental Health three years after Moyle’s brutal murder.

Chand is now in the care of the Waitemata District Health Board and Mr Moyle said they and the Ministry of Health had a duty to keep the community safe from those whose illnesses made them a danger to others.

“To add insult to injury the authorities deemed it inappropriate to advise the Marceau family that this leave was taking place”

“A humane society would recognise there needs to be a balance between offender privacy and a victims right to information, at present the scales are weighted completely in favour of the offender, more weight needs to be applied to that of the victim” Moyle said.

The Minister of Justice, Amy Adams is quoted as saying "There can be any number of reasons why a person might be granted escorted leave. It could be for something as routine as a dental check up."

“The Ministers comment is typical” Moyle said, “Victims of offenders in Prison are informed of temporary release and this is no different”.

“Better for the victims to receive a letter informing them of leave than to run into the offender in the library I suggest”.

“The Justice system plunged the blade into this already damaged family and now bureaucratic Privacy legislation twisted the knife”.

“Privacy laws in these situations are nothing more than state sanctioned victimisation and another example of offender rights superseding those of the victim”.

“The Ministry of Health need to come clean, be transparent and reassure victims and the New Zealand public that there is robust monitoring of these patients “.

“This is a public safety matter and public safety should override privacy considerations on every occasion”, Moyle said.

ENDS

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