Today, the NZ Herald reported:
Balderdash! Guy Hallwright was found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with reckless disregard and should have been punished appropriately. The maximum sentence for this crime is up to 14 years imprisonment. Just because Hallwright is a wealthy businessman doesn't mean he should be let off with a slap on the wrist.
Obviously Hallwright did intend to cause injury by accelerating forward while Kim was under the vehicle. He was after all found guilty of doing so for gods sake. To second guess that judgement and conviction just goes to show how factually baseless Raoul Neave is.
Neave's biased reasoning and lame excuses for such a pathetic sentence are completely unacceptable. Criticizing the media's coverage because he wanted Hallwright's crime kept out of the limelight shows him to be a complete asshole that should not be in a position of power.
Unfortunately this kind of corrupt judgement makes people lose all faith in the justice system as it clearly shows there's one law for the rich and another for the rest of us. Despicable!
In Auckland District Court yesterday, Judge Raoul Neave criticised the media for referring to the offence as a hit-and-run, saying Hallwright was driving "away" from the situation, which had been escalated in seriousness by Mr Kim banging on the bonnet.
"What I know of your character ... I consider it highly unlikely you would have driven at him," Judge Neave told Hallwright.
He said describing the incident as a hit-and-run was "irresponsible and inappropriate".
"[Mr Kim] has gone under the wheels of your car, you've driven over him before carrying on with your manoeuvre [of pulling back on to the road]," Judge Neave said.
He told Hallwright he was a contributor to society with a "spotless reputation" and "impeccable character" but he did not want it to be thought that he was overlooking the "very serious" effects on Mr Kim.
"[It caused] very significant and severe injuries to Mr Kim ... though it goes without saying you never sought out to cause those injuries."
Judge Neave said the reparation represented Hallwright's remorse and was not a loophole of the legal system that allowed rich people to buy their way out of more serious sentences.
Hallwright's employer, Forsyth Barr, felt he had brought the company into disrepute as a result of media coverage of the trial, and the judge criticised the media's "prurient" interest in the case as "vulgar in the extreme".
The media had "seized upon and reported for no reason other than a desire to take an unhealthy degree of glee" from someone of Hallwright's esteem being on trial in a criminal court. "The Germans have a word for it: schadenfreude."
Balderdash! Guy Hallwright was found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with reckless disregard and should have been punished appropriately. The maximum sentence for this crime is up to 14 years imprisonment. Just because Hallwright is a wealthy businessman doesn't mean he should be let off with a slap on the wrist.
Obviously Hallwright did intend to cause injury by accelerating forward while Kim was under the vehicle. He was after all found guilty of doing so for gods sake. To second guess that judgement and conviction just goes to show how factually baseless Raoul Neave is.Neave's biased reasoning and lame excuses for such a pathetic sentence are completely unacceptable. Criticizing the media's coverage because he wanted Hallwright's crime kept out of the limelight shows him to be a complete asshole that should not be in a position of power.
Unfortunately this kind of corrupt judgement makes people lose all faith in the justice system as it clearly shows there's one law for the rich and another for the rest of us. Despicable!
