Like clockwork, The Daily Telegraph had a front page exclusive on Monday about tough laws to stop fatal assaults in the wake of Thomas Kelly’s death in Kings Cross last year.
I say “like clockwork” because it was classic stage-managed, reaction-driven politics by a State Government that is either unable or unwilling to actually tackle the real issue that was brought to prominence by the incredibly inadequate sentence handed to Thomas Kelly’s killer last Friday.
Kieran Loveridge will serve a minimum of just four years for the manslaughter of the 18-year-old in Kings Cross last year – an unprovoked, alcohol-fueled attack that rightly enraged a nation.
The Telegraph’s big exclusive on Monday – which would have been leaked to them by the Government in the wake of the public anger and the knowledge that Thomas Kelly’s parents were to appear on ‘60 Minutes’ on Sunday evening – was that brawlers who kill with a king-hit will face up to 10 years in jail under “tough” new laws.
I read the story twice because initially I couldn’t quite fathom what I was reading nor that the Telegraph had seemingly fallen hook, line and sinker for it.
After all, wasn’t Kieran Loveridge facing a sentence of up to 25 years for the manslaughter of Mr Kelly?
Now, the Government’s solution is to introduce a law that would reduce the maximum sentence for a crime like Mr Loveridge’s to 10?
As it turns out, the proposed law will actually see a maximum penalty of up to 20 years but it matters little – just focus on the words “up to”.
The whole story loses all credibility there because we know how rarely maximum sentences are used.
Attorney General Greg Smith’s attempts to look and act tough quite simply haven’t washed with the public.
To Mr Smith and the Premier, I call BS.
And I call BS to all the legal types out there this past week – like Nicholas Cowdery, the former NSW Director of Public Prosecutions – who have tried to laugh off the public outrage, almost pushing it to the side because we all apparently don’t understand the legal technicalities and terms that saw the judge arrive at this sentence of Kieran Loveridge last Friday.
I understand the legal reasons why Kieran Loveridge was handed a minimum four year sentence. The public does too – we’re not as stupid as the Government or experts in the legal fraternity sometimes think we are.
What the public is angry at is that in cases like this, we see judges walking through a lolly shop picking discounts and circumstances that suit the offender’s situation.
In the judgement, the judge considers everything from Kieran Loveridge’s Aboriginal heritage, his father’s criminal activities and his lack of education.
He of course also considers the fact that Kieran Loveridge plead guilty.
Why killers get brownie points for being honest is beyond me.
The public has had enough of a legal system that is designed to simply ignore the worth of a life and a system that focuses on the offender rather than those he or she offended against.
In his judgement, the judge says, “the offender grew up in his mother’s care and without the benefit of love, support and guidance from his father”.
Cruel as it may be, I cannot for a moment agree that such circumstances should be considered an excuse for smashing a stranger in the head.
The reason for the public outrage is not that they believe a judge did the wrong thing, it’s that they believe the laws are wrong and need changing.
And after all, should the law not be built on public expectations?
Should it also not be built on serving as a deterrent to others?
We are dealing with lives here – and taking away all the legal arguments, the fact that someone can take somebody else’s life and serve just four years for it is unbelievably wrong.
When a judge considers the fact that Kieran Loveridge wept in court when Victim Impact Statements were read out as “a sincere expression of remorse”, we’ve pretty much lost the plot.
We’ve totally lost it when king-hitting someone in an unprovoked attack is not considered in the worst category of manslaughter.
Kieran Loveridge will be walking among us in his 20’s. The world will be a much scarier place when he is.
