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In 1989, a 13-year-old schoolgirl called Karla Cardno was kidnapped, raped and tortured to death by a man named Paul Dally, who lived near her house in Taitā, a suburb of Lower Hutt in Wellington. Dally was arrested and eventually confessed, led police to Cardno’s body and was sentenced to life in prison.
Dally became eligible for parole in 1999, and on hearing this Cardno’s stepfather – a man named Mark Middleton – told media that if Dally was released he would castrate Dally and then murder him.
The police charged Middleton with threatening to kill and the court case became a focus of public outrage. A Napier-based farmer called Garth McVicar supported Middleton through the trial (it resulted in a guilty conviction and suspended sentence) and in its aftermath, McVicar formed the Sensible Sentencing Trust, a victim’s rights and lobbying group that quickly became a dominant voice in New Zealand’s law and order debate.
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Ruth Money began working with the Sensible Sentencing Trust in 2012. When she was in her late thirties she cashed out of the Australian marketing company she’d built an ownership stake in. After the sale she had the time to “relax and give something back” so she sent emails to the SPCA and the Sensible Sentencing Trust asking both institutions if they wanted a volunteer. The SPCA never replied.
She returned to New Zealand and became a victim’s advocate in what was supposed to be a temporary exercise: a year off from her corporate career.
Money had always donated to victim-based causes. “My brother was a policeman and my father was a court reporter and my mum was a teacher so I’d grown up with a strong sense of justice. And I was always concerned about people who had been harmed and whether they were getting enough help.”
In the beginning, Money offered to fix the Sensible Sentencing Trust’s website.
The previous year an 18-year-old called Christie Marceau had been kidnapped and assaulted by a mentally ill friend called Akshay Chand. Chand was released on bail pending trial and a month later he murdered Marceau.
Her parents allied with the Sensible Sentencing Trust to lobby for stricter bail laws, and Money became chairperson of the Christie’s Law bail amendment campaign. In 2013, the National government passed an act reversing the burden of proof in bail cases: accused offenders would be denied bail unless they could demonstrate they were safe for release.
By the time the act was signed into law, Money was second-in-charge of the Sensible Sentencing Trust, running it alongside McVicar. But their relationship broke down in 2014 when McVicar decided to stand for the Conservative Party. They came to an agreement that she would look after the trust until the election was over.
Money then became an independent victim’s advocate (and the SST rapidly declined in influence after her departure). It’s a more-than-full-time job. She submits to Parliamentary select committees and crown prosecutors, lobbies political parties and is a high-profile media commentator on criminal justice issues.
But, the bulk of the work is to provide support to victims of serious crimes. It’s a service she believes the state should deliver. “It should be funded by the government – like the police. In other jurisdictions, victim support is a service within policing. It helps victims navigate the complex and often retraumatising investigative and legal processes.
Most victims have trouble accessing basic information about the justice system, Money explains. “The courts have a different system from the police. There are silos of information in each of the bureaucracies and government systems. It’s hard to find out - for example - how you get reimbursed for parking when you come to court. Endless little things like that.”
McVicar was notorious for his lock-’em-up-and-throw-away-the-key approach to justice reform. Money is more open to rehabilitation and community-based sentences – so long as the risk to the community is minimised.
“The system does work for some people,” she says. “One of the commonalities in good-news stories where people are successfully rehabilitated is that the person is well supported. We can’t expect the justice system to support victims or offenders – those who’ve been harmed and those who harm – in a vacuum.
“Those successful stories are ones where they have resources. They might be human resources. They might be money and investment. But they have a wraparound service that’s greater than them.”
Money is speaking just a few days after a confidential police report leaked to the New Zealand Herald revealed that convicted criminals who’d been sentenced or paroled using electronic monitoring were wrapping tinfoil around their ankle bracelets to breach their conditions without detection. While in breach, they’d committed a variety of offences including assaults and ram raids.
It’s a huge problem because there’s a strong preference within the justice system for these types of sentences, especially for young offenders, she said.
What would Money change if she ran everything? “The first thing I’d do is clear the court backlogs.” About 140,000 court cases have been delayed since Covid. There’s more funding to work through them but the number of criminal cases has also increased.
“The delays in the system right now cause harm to every single person involved, whether you’re accused, awaiting sentencing, on remand, or whether you’re a victim: a survivor of something terrible. Even if it’s not so terrible the court process hangs over their heads.
“I’d be looking for ways to streamline – for example – defence lawyers who shop around and just want a particular judge. Or deliberate delays in reports.”
More judges and sitting time is needed, she added.
“The guy at the sentencing I attended [recently] hadn’t worked for a year because he was waiting to see if he got a conviction or a discharge without conviction. He’s in limbo for a year, living off the taxpayer’s money for a year.
“It affects his motivation. His mental health. His kids. There’s this awful spiral because he’s just waiting for a year to find out if he’s going to get a conviction. Let alone his victim who’s going ‘What’s happening here? Is he going to be sentenced or what?’”
And – of course – Money believes in more funding for victim support. She believes we should do this with compassion, but also because it will reduce offending.
Most offenders in the criminal justice system have also been victims of crime in the past.
“If we gave those people the humanity, the resources, the support they need at the time they need it we wouldn’t see hurt people hurting people. In family violence situations where you’ve got kids in the whare who see mum or dad get arrested or given a police safety order – they get no help.
“It’s just insane to me that we give adults the help, but the tamariki get nothing and we expect them to act normally and not carry that trauma forward.”
In Money’s experience, the failure to support victims creates more offenders, which creates more victims. And the current legal process perpetuates this rather than solves it.
The current justice system “does not deliver justice,” she insists. “And corrections does not correct”.
Where to get help:
If you are a victim of family violence, sexual violence or there is someone who makes you fearful, threatens or harasses you, seek help as soon as possible. You have the right to be safe.
]If it’s an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
· Safe to Talk sexual harm helpline: 0800 044334, text: 4334, email: support@safetotalk.nz
· Rape Crisis: 0800 88 33 00
· Women’s Refuge: 0800 733 843
· Shine domestic abuse services free call: 0508 744 633 (24/7, Live Webchat is also available)
· Hey Bro helpline - supporting men to be free from violence 0800 HeyBro (439 276)
· Family violence information line to find out about local services or how to help someone else: 0800 456 450
· Oranga Tamariki line for concerns about children and young people: 0508 326 459, email: contact@ot.govt.nz1737,
· Need to talk? Free call or text: 1737 for mental health support from a trained counsellor
· Youthline: 0800 376 633, free text: 234, email: talk@youthline.co.nz
· Shakti - for migrant and refugee women - 0800 742 584 - 24 hours
· Elder Abuse Helpline: 0800 32 668 65 - 24 hours, text: 5032, email: support@elderabuse.nz
· Wellington Help for individuals, whānau and communities affected by sexual abuse in the Wellington Region: 04 801 6655 & push 0 at the menu - 24 hours
· Aviva For free 24/7 support line, call 0800 AVIVA NOW (0800 28482 669)