Protesters await Middleton sentencing

9:45 AM

Demonstrations in support of Mark Middleton are underway outside district court buildings across the country.

There are about 150 people at the Auckland District Court where Middleton will be sentenced this morning for threatening to kill a convicted murderer should he ever be released on parole.

The sentence is expected around 11 am.

In Middleton's home town of Wanganui, about 60 people have gathered outside the district court building.

Many more have signed a petition calling for tougher sentences for violent crime.

About 30 protesters are at the Christchurch District Court building, and a similar number have turned up outside the Wellington courthouse.

About 100 Middleton supporters are attending a demonstration outside the Taupo court house.

Middleton was found guilty of threatening to kill Paul Dally, the man who murdered Middleton's stepdaughter, Karla Cardno.

Middleton's supporters say they want tougher sentences for violent criminals - and stricter rules covering parole. They say Middleton should not be punished for threatening Dally's life.

Attorney General Margaret Wilson is fiercely defending the judge who is sentencing Mark Middleton today.

Ms Wilson says independent judges are at the very heart of the rule of law and deserve our support and respect even when we disagree with them.

She says the job of any judge is to apply the law without fear or favour, however unpopular the decision might be.

Ms Wilson says it is never acceptable in a free society, to attempt, outside a courtroom, to influence judges in the way they perform their duty.

- IRN