Podcasts Other The Mike Hosking Breakfast Petrina Hargrave: Calls for more rights for victims of criminals found not guilty by way of insanity

Petrina Hargrave: Calls for more rights for victims of criminals found not guilty by way of insanity

Published: Feb. 16, 2021, 12:45 a.m.

A call for more rights for victims of criminals found not guilty by way of insanity.
Victim support has made a submission on the rights for victims of insane offenders bill.
The bill passed its first reading last year and would remove the phrase not guilty from insanity verdicts and would let victims know when a patient has unescorted community leave.
Victim support spokesperson Patrina Hargrave told Mike Hosking verdicts like this are common here in New Zealand. 
"New Zealand had 40 cases of people being acquitted on account of insanity in 2019, and an annual average of 33 over the last 5 years." 
Hargrave compared New Zealand's statistics with Australia. 
"New South Wales had 24 over the last 5 years on average, and they have far more rights for their victims of insane offenders than we do." 
She told Mike Hosking victims of insane offenders are invisible. 
"Because even though it is proven that a defendant was responsible for the offending act, because they were legally insane, the victim is treated in the eyes of the law as if the crime never occurred." 
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