NZ diplomats 'useless' after killing

Catherine Marlow. Photo / Supplied

It's a club that no one wants to join.

The Sensible Sentencing Trust annual conference yesterday brought together dozens who had lost loved ones to brutal killers.

Among them were the families of high profile murder victims: Liam Ashley, choked to death in the back of a prison van; Michael Choy, beaten to death by nine others including Bailey Junior Kurariki; Karl Kuchenbecker, shot by parolee Graeme Burton.

But Debbie Marlow, the sister of murdered Kiwi Catherine Marlow, shook the conference with an emotional speech that attacked the New Zealand justice system and accused the diplomatic service of being useless.

Cathy Marlow was killed in 2007 in London by Matthew Fagan, who was given 26 years' jail without parole.

"What we got was justice, without the fanfare, the blood, the sweat and the tears that New Zealand families of victims have to endure even to get their sentences that are handed down," Ms Marlow said.

"This sentence was the beginning of my family's healing and rebuilding process.

"We have often commented, 'How would it ever be possible to try to carry on with your life when the accused only gets 12 years?'

"We honestly can't imagine what it must be like for families to live with the fact that these murderers have taken their loved ones, but the families are the ones who have to live with the life sentence."

Ms Marlow praised the UK system that had looked after them. After the guilty verdict, the judge sentenced Fagan on the spot because the Marlows had travelled so far and waited so long for justice.

Fagan's appeal in April this year against the sentence was quickly tossed out. The judge called his crime appalling.

Ms Marlow also attacked the New Zealand Government at the time, which had said it was helping the family any way it could.

"My brother and I literally ran a small business out of my home to try to get Catherine's body back. We were offered not one piece of assistance in this - not logistically, no information, no contacts and definitely no money from the Government.

"How hard could it have been for someone within Parliament to pick up the phone, make a couple of phones calls and advise us of where to start and who to contact? I'm sure if it was one of their family members lying in a morgue in the UK, the body wouldn't have taken eight weeks to reach New Zealand."

The high commission in London was equally useless when her husband and brother went to the UK to collect Catherine's belongings, she said.

"They were offered no help, with doors literally being shut in their face. Which leaves us all asking the question of the exact purpose of the NZ embassy in overseas countries.

"To the Government, my heartfelt message to you [is]: change the system, impose longer non-parole jail periods and let these families of victims get on with trying to rebuild their lives."