Zero Tolerance 20/20

[Genestho]

Remember the agrophobia defence that saw a woman who killed whilst three times over the drink drive limit on Home D?

Well Tara's (the victim) story is on tonight on 20/20, her mother has emailed Crossroads, my lobbygroup.

Yet another case where our justice system has blood on its hands.

I have heard that when this woman was told she killed Tara at the scene.... apparently according to a family member of Taras, the driver said "Shit Happens" (True statement normally, but not when you kill) and has shown a lack of remorse the whole way.

According to studies - if a drink driver is caught and proccessed with at least twice the legal BAC, even at first time, the likelihood of alcohol addiction and therefore recidivism (and its particular profiling as a recidivist) increases.

In some States in Australia and countries around the world these very high BAC readings are treated and acted upon with severe sanctioning.

Not only do we neglect to send 95% of these people off for treatment and early intervention/assessment, we spit them back out onto our roads, and I know the rest.

I would think the offender in this story is a prime candidate to be kept off our roads permanently, until she has targeted treatment but instead we give her home D, and in my humble opinion - I have no doubt she will have ready access to another deadly weapon.

Makes me just feel all warm inside

[blossomsowner]

saw the programme tonight.........the accident happened about 3km from where i live. Nasty intersection too, even driving straight through you always wonder if someone is going to jump the stop sign.
the justice was non-existent.............there has been plenty of local publicity here about it.
lets hope this country eventually toughens up on drunk drivers......its way past due.

[Pussy]

I watched it and was bloody appalled. The guilty woman is being portrayed as the victim. What a crock of shit

[shafty]

Agro phobia - YEAH RIGHT

Try a week in a coffin

[yod]

Remember the agrophobia defence that saw a woman who killed whilst three times over the drink drive limit on Home D?

it wasn't a "defense", it was a determination made by the judge in conjunction with the offender being bipolar as well as agoraphobic, that meant she serves her sentence at home instead of a jail cell

I would think the offender in this story is a prime candidate to be kept off our roads permanently, until she has targeted treatment but instead we give her home D, and in my humble opinion - I have no doubt she will have ready access to another deadly weapon.

is she not receiving treatment?

[Genestho]

it wasn't a "defense", it was a determination made by the judge in conjunction with the offender being bipolar as well as agoraphobic, that meant she serves her sentence at home instead of a jail cell



is she not receiving treatment?

Sorry, my faupah - you are correct in the determination made by the Judge, based on the evidence supplied from the defence



The treatment we have available for drink driving currently is embarrassingly a "makedo scenario", I have contacts in the A and D Industry with numerous qualifications in this particular area - down in the coalface and those have been the words quoted to me. I genuinely hope she gets what she needs.

As far as treatment for bipolar, and agrophobia, thats not my area of knowledge, and no doubt they'll give her pills - seems to be the answer to everything

There needs to be a collective sharing of info between Ministry of Justice, Dept of Corrections and a good sorting out at MOH if they ever intend in sorting this carnage out and get it off our roads..10 rehab centre closed in as many years dont help.

Giving her four years disqualification from driving wont stop her, if she wants to drive she will, its just paper, and if theres no monitoring from Dept of Corrections, then I assume she will do as she wishes.

[yod]

Giving her four years disqualification from driving wont stop her, if she wants to drive she will, its just paper, and if theres no monitoring from Dept of Corrections, then I assume she will do as she wishes.

yep, so our options are, incarcerate her for life, chop various limbs off, or have someone follow her 24/7

there is no way to stop her, or any of the other hundreds of recidivists

[Genestho]

yep, so our options are, incarcerate her for life, chop various limbs off, or have someone follow her 24/7

there is no way to stop her, or any of the other hundreds of recidivists

Theres always "personal reponsibilty" (yes those foreign two words again) that people around this minority can take with awareness created, the families of the deceased and affected standing up and together, and submissions made within various legislative reviews...

I believe just in the small role I have chosen to take, and the loosely based organsiations and groups getting together, there will be a change, its happening.

[MIXONE]

I to watched the programme and it would be fair to say my blood was boiling by the end.Home detention what a joke!!!Definately no personal responsibility from her.At the end the presenter said that her sentence was being appealed.I hope she goes up before a judge with his feet on the ground next time and gets the jail time she sorely deserves.Karma takes too long for some people.

[yod]

how long should she get do you think?

[Headbanger]

couple of hundred years sounds like a good start.

[MIXONE]

I don't know how long she should get but no jail time at all is a CRIME.

[Blackbird]

I might add that the police officer was a well-known member of Kiwi Biker which some might recognise

[Delerium]

Seems a bit light doesnt it, she has given the deceased's family I life long sentence. Take some responsibility for your actions. If you dont want to go to prison becuase of your agrophobia, dont DRINK AND DRIVE! That simple. It should be a case of, you wouldnt be in this small cell if you hadnt have done this, youbrought it on yourself. Shit happens. (a quote by her apparently, so mildly ironic)

[Indoo]

This is the typical treatment drink drivers get at the hands of the court. They routinely even beat the charges based on the merest irrelevant technicality in prosecution paper work. Theres no reasonableness or sense in the decisions and we dedicate a courtroom and an entire industry of lawyers who specialize in picking up minor paper work errors and structuring defenses around them manipulating poorly written legislation and procedure. Anyone who spends a day in the drink drive/traffic court room at the District Court would be amazed at what a farce the law is to these people and seeing the defenses they can get away with is sickening.

Decisions like this are what result. The law needs to be overhauled, first time drink drivers should be arrested and processed like any other criminal instead of summonsed. Second time, mandatory alcohol assessment for all offenders, compulsory treatment and a disqualification that extends until they complete that treatment and a medical professional is satisfied that they have overcome their alcohol problem. Third time, mandatory minimum 6 month jail sentence, mandatory confiscation and destruction of vehicle, sentence of disqualification and if caught driving while disqualified return to prison for another 6 months. Fourth time - long prison sentence, life supervision upon release, constant routine blood tests and any alcohol found in their system = return to prison.

It should be treated like any other crime, we don't look at drunkenly assaulting someone as an 'error' of judgment so why do we treat the deliberate act of getting behind the wheel of a lethal weapon while pissed any different.