Family Group Welcomes Filipo Sentence

Media Release 2 November 2016
Family First NZ is welcoming the sentence handed to rugby player Losi Filipo, after Family First asked the Solicitor-General to appeal the original weak and dangerous sentence.
“The rights of the victims to see justice, the community to be protected, and the sentence to be a deterrent to similar acts must be paramount in the sentencing of serious acts of violence. But just as vital are measures to prevent repeat-offending. The requirements for counselling for alcohol and violence are part of that solution,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.
“As a community, we are trying to say that violence is completely unacceptable – yet some of the sentences given by the courts are completely undermining that message. The previous offender-friendly sentence sent a dangerous message that we don’t value the protection of victims and the safety of the public in a case that involved significant violence towards both males and females.”
“The earlier judgment also communicated that punishments and consequences will be determined by who you are rather than what you did,” says Mr McCoskrie.
“This is not about revenge as some will suggest. This is about an appropriate sentence which reflects the gravity of the crime, protects the public in the long-term, and communicates the revulsion that the public rightly has against these sorts of mindless acts – irrespective of who commits them.”
ENDS