United Future New Zealand's law and order spokesman, Marc Alexander, said today he was deeply disturbed at the light sentences handed down to the teenage killers of pizza delivery man, Michael Choy.

"I question a law that takes the emphasis away from the crime, the victim and the consequences for the victim's family and instead focuses on the age of the perpetrators," he said.

"If sentences matched the crime, then a life sentence would mean life and at the very least, a minimum parole period would be set. The age of the offenders is irrelevant to the magnitude of the crime.

"These young criminals were convicted of multiple serious crimes, yet they received concurrent prison terms, not consecutive terms. This merely encourages people to commit multiple crimes," said Mr Alexander.

"We have to change social attitudes so that we get to the point where Michael Choy's mother, Rita Croskery, would not have to say the length of the sentences were 'more than I expected, considering our soft justice system, but we wanted life for them. Michael's death is a life sentence for us'," concluded Mr Alexander.

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Contact: Ted Sheehan
Chief Press Secretary
Tel: 04 470 6985
Cell: 021 638 920

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