Pubdate: Sun, 01 Jun 2003 Source: Sunday Star-Times (New Zealand) Copyright: 2003 Sunday Star-Times Contact: http://www.sundaystartimes.co.nz Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1064 Author: Oskar Alley DOLE, DRUGS AND RUGBY FOR HOME DETENTION CRIMS Criminals who escape jail terms and serve sentences on home detention are going to the gym and playing sport unsupervised - and collecting dole payments and emergency benefits. New figures released by the government show home detainees include those convicted of manslaughter, raping a girl aged under 16, aggravated robbery, threatening to kill and assaulting a child with a firearm. And the Sunday Star-Times has learned of a case where a man who nearly beat his partner to death - and had to perform CPR to revive her - was convicted and released to her house on home detention, only to savagely beat her again. Of the 1017 cases of home detention since July, 87 offenders breached the rules, with half sent to prison. Their offences included being a danger to other residents, absconding, drug and alcohol use, and breaching curfew. Ten criminals used home detention to commit new crimes. Critics say the scheme is a shambles and the public has been misled by promises they would not be in danger from criminals who serve sentences at home. Corrections Minister Paul Swain, in his first month in the job, told the Star-Times he had ordered reports into the system amid concern at the number of breaches of home detention guidelines. "Public safety is one of the key issues people expect from the Corrections Department and from me," he said. "Reoffending rates are something that need attention. We need to know more about this type of activity." Figures released by Swain reveal 185 convicted criminals are pocketing dole cheques and are exempt from trying to find a job - despite the system allowing detainees to work in approved areas. Home detention extends to criminals convicted and sentenced to less than two years' jail if the judge grants leave for them to apply for it. The scheme can also extend to serious criminals who finish their sentence at home after jail terms. Detainees are also allowed to go to the gym and play sport unsupervised - corrections officials told a select committee last week the only checks involved a probation officer telephoning the gym to see if the person had signed in. NZ First MP Ron Mark said the public would be horrified that the state was paying benefits to criminals who had offended against society. "They've done the crime but where is the punishment?" he said. "This is absolute nonsense. The way the home detention scheme is being run is not far away from rewarding criminals for the crimes they've committed," he said. "Some of them must be leading very cruisy lives, the dole for no work, going out to the gym or out for up to four hours to watch rugby. They can even get an emergency benefit to pop out to a tinny house to stock up their drug dealing supplies for the weekend. "This government has allowed the system to be abused by its lax and liberal enforcement, or more accurately non-enforcement, of the law." National MP Tony Ryall said the scheme was valid but its operation was a shambles because of sloppy checks on detainees adhering to their conditions. He cited the case of a man who had nearly killed his de facto partner in a beating and then had to resuscitate her. The man was jailed but later granted home detention to live with the woman with her consent. He subsequently beat her again. Family members alerted Child, Youth and Family officials because a child lived in the house but no action was taken. "It's clear this government has taken no interest in enforcing the home detention laws and is content to turn a blind eye when it learns of such shocking abuses of the system," Ryall said. "The problem is not the system, it's their liberal approach to administering it. That's how a Mt Maunganui woman can be drinking in the same pub as her probation officer and no one acts." Ryall said the government's ambivalence to our prisons explained why Swain was the fourth corrections minister in as many years. Swain conceded questions from opposition MPs had alerted him to the home detention breaches and he had acted by seeking answers from his officials. He accepted there would be some critics of paying benefits to detainees but said "people have to live". "Some people may well have an issue with that but what I want to hear is - what is the alternative?" Swain said offenders could gain jobs and enjoy gym trips and recreational activities but only at the end of their detention, if they had met earlier, harsher requirements. Previous governments had introduced the scheme and it was timely to assess how it was working. Home detention reduced recidivism and was less of a financial burden on the taxpayer, he said. "It has a lower recidivism rate than for prison and offers very good rehabilitation options," Swain said. "Having said that, it is a lesser form of imprisonment. I want to be confident that the checking regime and the restrictions placed on it are working properly." - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens