| Latest
figures for people still celebrating the end of the NT Country Liberal Party's
mandatory sentencing...
Under
NT Labor "... of 756
prisoners in jail in Darwin and Alice Springs, 612 are indigenous."
"This equates to 82 per cent
of the prison population being black." "And
this means they still show little or no respect for the laws of this country."
From the NT News by 'columnist'
Col Newman. October, 2003 | Prison
time backflip NIGEL
ADLAM 11Jul07 TERRITORY
Attorney-General Syd Stirling last night broke a Labor taboo by promising to look
at mandatory sentencing He
will consider set penalties for road deaths caused by drink, drugs and "reckless"
speeding. Ed:
We already have mandatory sentencing for drug offences The
backflip came after he met two families hit by road deaths. Labor's
first act on gaining power in 2001 was to repeal the CLP's mandatory sentencing
for property crimes. In
opposition, the ALP argued that mandatory penalties resulted in many cases of
injustice and took independence away from judges and magistrates. Mr
Stirling last night admitted he was on uncomfortable ground. "We
(Labor) are not attracted to mandatory sentencing," he said. "But
is there a case to have mandatory minimum sentences when certain facts are beyond
doubt, such as drugs, drink and reckless speed." He
said this would be different to the CLP's mandatory sentencing for property crime. Under
this policy offenders had been jailed for the pettiest crimes. Mr
Stirling said that he had been moved by the cases put to him yesterday. Heather
Maclean's 22-year-old son Don was a passenger in a car hit by a drunk driver who
ran a red light in 2005. Driver
Timothy Neville Curtis, 24, who fled the crash scene, was jailed for 15 months
for doing a dangerous act causing death. Ms
Maclean said the sentence was way too lenient: "Don got life - this bloke
got 15 months." Glenda
Brown's boyfriend Kevin Hunt died when a drunk- driver hit his motorbike in 2005. Jason
Scott Duncan, 35, who also fled the scene, was jailed for just one year for doing
a dangerous act causing death. "I've
lost my companion, my lover ... my best mate," Ms Brown said yesterday. | 
