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"There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come"
- Victor Hugo
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RITA CROSKERY REPLIES TO CRITICS
(1st September 2010)
The woman whose experiences at the hands of the parole board have made headline news this week is hitting back at those critical of the Sensible Sentencing Trust and its annual Victim's Right's conference.
Rita Croskery's son Michael Choy was beaten to death by six teenagers while he was delivering pizza in 2001. Since then the now 76-year-old grandmother has attended 28 parole board hearings.
Her experiences have contributed to proposed changes to the parole board process, with Justice Minister Simon Power indicating a paper screening system will be introduced for the majority of criminals eligible for parole but unlikely to be granted it.
Mrs Croskery said today she was appalled by the uneducated and unkind comments in the media by people who had no experience of the workings of the current parole board system and the devastating effects it had on victims and their families.
She also criticised the ongoing attacks on the Sensible Sentencing Trust by "armchair experts" unaffected by the impact of violent crime on a family. Critics who continued to claim the Trust solicited members were refusing to acknowledge the truth because it didn't suit them.
"Each and every one of the victims seek out the Sensible Sentencing Trust of their own accord, there is never any pressure put to bear on anyone to join," said Mrs Croskery.
"Personally I joined because I made a vow to my son as he lay in his coffin to do whatever I could to try to prevent these horrific crimes and the Trust is the organisation achieving the most in terms of positive and common sense justice reform.
"Along my journey I have met hundreds of victims and families associated with the Trust who all say belonging to the organisation has been empowering and healing.
"As Garth McVicar says, it's a club no one would ever want to belong to, and I only hope those who criticise our decision to fight for what we believe in never have to join our club."
Mrs Croskery said she and other Trust members were fed up with being portrayed as "lost souls hell-bent on revenge" when in fact they were ordinary Kiwis who had experienced extraordinarily sad events and had first hand knowledge about the failings in the justice system and valid views on how to improve it.
Regards,
Rita Croskery
Permanent Link
New video on Three Strikes featuring David Garrett and Garth McVicar
A recent interview in three parts as shown on TVHB; go here and click on the Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 buttons below the photo of David Garrett
A downloadable version of our DVD "New Zealand – A land fit for Criminals – why?" is available
for broadband DSL/cable users here (42 Mb, 320 kb/sec) , and
for dialup users here (6 Mb, 48 kb/sec)
These are in wmv format, playable in most media players
The essay "My Truth - The Mallet of Judgement" by Kristine Johnston may now be found here along with a number of other articles from Trust members and staff on our new Contributors Page
The Sensible Sentencing Trust was formed in March 2001 by a small group of motivated people with a passion and a vision to help create a patriotic, crime free New Zealand through the promotion of personal responsibility and a better deal for Victims of crime.
Our focus on the sentencing issue at this stage has been a deliberate part of our strategy. By highlighting the ridiculous sentences given to repeat offenders we felt most New Zealanders would identify and understand our message as we raised public awareness and encouraged community ownership.
We realise that harsher penalties alone are not the complete answer, but we believe that sensible sentences must be the first part of the package; we are now expanding our focus into other areas contributing to violent crime. Educating the public is seen as a key factor in achieving our ultimate goal of reducing crime.
The Trust encourages our members to become pro-active ambassadors by educating their respective communities as to the horrific consequences and ongoing effects of violent crime, for those directly involved and the wider community.
Public awareness has been achieved by holding public meetings around the country, and representatives of the organisation have spoken to hundreds of community groups.
Sensible Sentencing Trust is now a nationwide organisation with head office in Napier and co-ordinators in many regions. Everyone who works for the Trust does so on a voluntary basis; financial support comes from membership donations, community groups and individual contributions.
The Sensible Sentencing Trust is strictly a non-political organisation; with IRD approved donee and charitable trust status.
The Trust is absolutely committed to reducing violent crime through community awareness, education and research.
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Because of the huge volume of emails Garth receives, a reply may not always be possible;
please direct emails to others listed on this page if your issue is covered by their area of interest.
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National Spokesperson and Trustee :
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Garth McVicar
P.O. Box 701
Napier 4140
027 2487919
email garth@sst.org.nz
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National Secretary and Trustee :
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Wendy Pedler
P.O. Box 701
Napier 4140
(06) 8355521 SST Office
(06) 8355520 SST fax
021 2494333
email wendy@sst.org.nz
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Lawyer : Keith Jeffries
Wellington
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Accountants : Gardner Reaney Ltd
Chartered Accountants
P O Box 192
Napier 4140
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Trust Auditor : Gardner Knobloch Ltd
Chartered Accountants
Phone: 06 835 5018
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Assistant to Webmaster and
Database researcher
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Ross Crosby
+0061 42 4993905
email rncrosby@tpg.com.au
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With co-ordinators throughout our main regions.
webmaster@sst.org.nz for technical issues regarding this website.
The mission of the Sensible Sentencing Trust is:
"To obtain a large base of community support to ensure safety for all New Zealanders from violent and criminal offending through education, development of effective penal policies, and the promotion of responsible behaviour, accountable parenting and respect for each other at all levels of society".
The only thing necessary for evil to prevail is for good
men and women to do nothing
Sensible Sentencing is a Nationwide organisation with membership increasing daily.
The time is right, Enough is Enough. This is a people issue, we need you, call 0900 SAFE NZ to join!
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