Monday, April 07, 2008

Unprecedented manipulation

A woman calls the police to take away her violent partner who is beating her up. He kills himself in the prison cell so she claims $600,000 damages from the state.

The guy, a gang member, was a complete loser with a long history of trouble and prison stays. The police however knew he was suicidal and failed to properly protect him from himself. They did though protect others from him which is their first priority.

His mother says he wasted his life but supports the case, "...in the hope it would help provide for her son's partner and her children."

I would put money on it that the state is already providing for the partner and her five children through the benefit system.

It could be argued that the plaintiff also knew he was suicidal yet had him arrested. Not only did she fail to prevent him from suiciding - she increased the probability of it happening.

It seems to me if she wins, a new level of moral distortion will have been reached.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Agreed, Lindsay.

"The police however ... failed to properly protect him from himself."

Is that possible? Is it possible for anyone, let alone the police, to protect other people from themselves?

Anonymous said...

I made the above comment. Forgot to add my name.

DigiSlidz said...

I am appalled and wondered if I was being too hard. So showed it to the gentle one in our family and she agreed. He has made his choices and from the article a lot of bad ones. Why should we continue to pay. If she wins then I trust WINZ will be asking for their money back... (Tui ad here).

What about all the people who have tried to get family into care and they end up committing suicide, should they be suing as well? I hope the system throws this out at an early stage, before too much legal aid is spent.

KG said...

It sure pays to be a lowlife in NZ these days.