New Zealanders have criticised the sentences handed down to four teenagers who were found guilty of stealing nearly $80,000 worth of property in 2015.
The Northern Advocate reported that teens, Robert Hales, Dylan Christie, Matthew McKenzie and Ethan Poole face penalties of home detention up to 10 months, 300 hours of community work and repayments of up to $20,950, for a burglary spree which included boats, outboard motors, fishing gear and tools.
The sentence caused outrage throughout the country, and was labelled as "inadequate" by the country’s former Maori Affairs Minister and Northland Regional councillor Dover Samuels.
Cr Samuels said the sentence would not act as a deterrent.
“I think the sentence was inadequate,” he said.
“It sounds like they’ve been up to this sort of thing for a while and you only have to look at the sentencing of other young people, some of whom wouldn’t have done things half as serious as what these guys did.”
There were angry comments posted online following the verdict.
Many have suggested that lighter sentences were given because the teens were white, and if they were Maori or Pacific Islanders, they would have instead faced jail time.
One read: “ … A set of rules for one and a set of rules for another. Justice stinks.”
Retired judge Roy Wade defended the decision, saying the verdict was working within the law.
He said judges must consider home detention as a punishment, if the recommended sentence is prison time of two or less years, under the Sentencing Act.
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