MIL Reportage.
Recorded live on 20/02/15
ITEM ONE:
[caption id="attachment_3021" align="alignleft" width="300"] Selwyn Manning.[/caption] Controversy continues to surround one of New Zealand’s most disturbing multiple-murder cases even after almost twenty years since a High Court jury initially found David Bain guilty of the murders of his mother, father, two sisters and his brother.
The New Zealand Government has been struggling to objectively consider whether David Bain ought to be given compensation for being wrongfully imprisoned for the murders of his family:
this even after the Police case was found wanting
forensic evidence was corrupted
a plea to the Privy Council was supported and a new trial was ordered
that on retrial in 2009, Bain was found not guilty after 13 years imprisonment
that after an impartial review, ordered by NZ Government, was considered by retired Canadian High Court judge Justice Ian Binnie, who found Bain was, on the balance of probabilities, innocent of the murders and ought to be compensated for this injustice.
Even after that saga, last year the then Justice Minister Judith ‘Crusher’ Collins did not feel satisfied with the impartial judge’s report. Collins ordered another legal peer review of Justice Binnie’s report be conducted by a lawyer, of her choosing, who found Binnie over-stepped his terms of reference and found fault in the Judge’s reasoning.
Now… almost twenty years since Bain was wrongfully convicted, the new Justice Minister Amy Adams said yesterday neither the impartial judge’s report, nor the critical legal peer review, can be relied on.
The minister will now order a new impartial reassessment of Bain’s case for compensation, and that this will cost over $400,000 to $1million.
For the record, David Bain has always maintained his innocence, insisting that he was out delivering newspapers at around dawn when his parents and siblings were murdered in their home, shot while they slept… That is, apart from his father who was fatally shot while kneeling in the study.
There was a note on the family’s computer, allegedly written by the father Robin for his son David, stating ‘you were the only one who deserved to live.
See the Minister of Justice’s statement here.ITEM TWO:
This one is rather odd. We all know New Zealand has a sizeable agriculture sector, but Waikato drivers were still surprised to see the Police bowling along a rural highway driving a tractor! See TVNZ report.
The tractor was all decked out in Police car livery and colours. There was a cop at the wheel in full uniform and police cap. However, it’s unclear whether the tractor was fitted with a siren and flashing lights.
Apparently the Police tractor was heading to Field days agricultural show in Te Awamutu as part of an official Police publicity stunt. The Police said last night it was “… all about, promoting discussions – things like rural road deaths, drug activity on farms, personal safety, stock thefts and illegal hunting.”
New Zealand Report is broadcast live on FiveAA.com.au and webcast on LiveNews.co.nz and ForeignAffairs.co.nz.
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