Prisoner's 'hurt feelings' a test

A Christchurch prison inmate with "hurt feelings" has become the first to test the crackdown on compensation for prisoners.

A death threat by Julian Heath Edgecombe had prompted Paparua prison officer Warren Aranga to lose control and cuff him around the head. The brief attack on Mr Edgecombe, in April last year, cost Mr Aranga his job.

Mr Edgecombe decided that was not enough and is suing the Attorney-General for $40,000 compensation.

He has been released from jail since the attack, after serving 21 months for threatening to kill and assault.

His claim has become the first test of the new Prisoners and Victims Claims Act, passed last month after public uproar over payouts to inmates for breaches of their human rights.

The act was pushed through Parliament after five inmates received $130,000 for harsh treatment in an illegal behaviour-management regime in Auckland Prison.

Among the payouts was $50,000 for murderer Christopher Taunoa, who sued the Corrections Department over the amount of time he was placed in solitary confinement.

Mr Edgecombe was not in the Christchurch District Court yesterday for the compensation claim hearing, but his lawyer, Phillip Allan, said he deserved substantial compensation because his rights had been breached.

"The assault and the response to it didn't treat Edgecombe with the humanity and respect that should be accorded him," Mr Allan said.

He accepted that the attack was provoked by Mr Edgecombe's death threat, but the subject of the threat, another prison officer, had not taken it seriously.

Mr Allan accepted that Mr Edgecombe suffered no substantial injuries and primarily suffered "hurt feelings", but the incident still required redress.

The judge said: "How about the profound satisfaction of having brought about the dismissal of a prison officer?"

Mr Allan said compensation was still justified.

Val Sim, for the Attorney-General, said no compensation was due because Mr Edgecombe should have sued Mr Aranga and not the Attorney-General. Mr Edgecombe had spurned the option of referring the assault to the police, and his treatment had not been bad enough to justify compensation.

"This is a remedy of last resort. Only if nothing else will do can you award compensation," she said.

The judge said his decision, which he was reserving, would almost inevitably be tested in the High Court and the Court of Appeal.

The new law was passed after revelations that the Government was facing up to 30 payouts this year, compared with an average of four a year since 1996.

- NZPA