KEY POINTS:
More Northland criminals such as repeat drink-drivers and benefit fraudsters could soon serve their sentences at home instead of in jail under new laws aimed at reducing the prison population.
New legislation has just came into force which tightens parole eligibility for those in prison, but provides more sentencing options aimed at cutting the number of people sent there in the first place.
Among the changes is a move to make home detention a sentence in its own right.
Until now judges have only had the power to allow defendants to apply to the parole board for home detention if jailed for under two years jail and in most cases they have to wait in jail until their application was determined.
Now those same defendants - typically repeat drink-drivers or those convicted of medium to serious crimes not considered a risk to the community - could be granted home detention immediately.
Privately, some Whangarei lawyers are critical of the changes, saying they will mean people who would have previously been sent to jail are now likely to receive home detention or a community-based sentenced.
On Thursday in Whangarei District Court, visiting judge Russell Callender echoed that view when he remanded two repeat drink-drivers for sentencing.
Judge Callender indicated he would have jailed both men for two months but agreed to remand the cases to another date because it was possible they could be suitable for home detention.
"Clearly the concept is that where possible these matters will be dealt with by home detention or community-based sentences," Judge Callender said.
Sensible Sentencing spokesman Garth McVicar said too many people were already on home detention and the latest changes would lead to a dramatic increase.
"Home detention should only ever be an option for first-time offenders. A recidivist offender should never be eligible for home detention."
The trust believed home detention was a soft option which enabled offenders to be visited in their homes by friends and family.
"Jail must become a deterrent, not a holiday camp, so ultimately we deter people from committing crime," he said.
However, Justice Minister Mark Burton has defended the changes, saying home detention was an effective sentence.
People rarely offended while on home detention and were less likely to re-offend after being released from their sentence compared with those sent to jail.
"For some offenders prison is not the answer," Mr Burton said.
"By giving judges a greater range of non- custodial sentences Judges have the ability to tailor the sentence to help the offender address the causes of their offending."
Mr Burton said prison was still the only option for serious repeat offenders who posed a risk to the community and those offenders would now spend longer in jail under the changes.
New Sentences
* Home detention becomes a sentence in its own right: Before October 1 judges could only grant leave for home detention and most prisoners had to wait in jail while the parole board ruled on their application, although judges could defer the start of the sentence in exceptional cases.
* New sentence of Community Detention is introduced: It's similar to home detention but offenders must abide by a curfew and an alarm will activate if they leave their home during their curfewed hours.
* Intensive supervision: Offenders will be kept under tighter observation by probation workers.
* Parole changes: Those sentenced to under 12 months' jail will have to serve their entire sentence. Until now anyone jailed for two years or less served only half their sentence.
* Also: Those sentenced to more than 12 months must serve two- thirds of that sentence before being eligible for parole. Previously prisoners were considered for parole after serving a third of their sentence, unless a non- parole period had been imposed.
- NORTHERN ADVOCATE
