Latest news with #ParoleAct
Irish Daily Mirror
06-07-2025
- Politics
- Irish Daily Mirror
Mum of sons murdered by their dad campaigns to end killer's early release bid
A mum whose two sons were murdered by their evil father has told of the trauma of having to fight against him getting parole just over 10 years into his life sentence. Victims' rights campaigner Kathleen Chada said minimum sentencing needs to be introduced to stop killers from being able to apply for parole every few years. In 2013, Ms Chada's sons Eoghan and Ruairi were murdered by their father, Sanjeev who was handed a life in prison term the following year. The brute will be able to apply for parole again later this year, and Kathleen admitted she fears the day he will be set free. Speaking on the Grief Pod with Venetia Quick, Kathleen said: 'There is a possibility in the future that he will be paroled. I would like to think that that won't be for a long, long time yet. 'I am hoping, at the very least, that he will spend 25 to 30 years in prison and I will fight for that when it happens. 'I know that parole will be coming up towards the end of this year as he has the right to apply approximately every two years. 'I can't not think about it, and that's part of the problem, it is wrong.' Thanks to the efforts of Kathleen and others, changes were made to the Parole Act in 2021. It ensured life-prisoners must now have served at least 12 years, rather than the previous seven years, before becoming eligible for parole. The legislation hadn't been updated in time to stop Sanjeev for applying for parole after seven years. But while Kathleen said she hopes it is helping other families, there still needs to be minimum sentencing. She added: 'I do want there to be the introduction of minimum tariffs. 'If the judge, on the day of the trial, was in a position to say he should serve two life sentences and to serve a minimum of x amount of years before consideration for parole, I could have parked it then. 'For what he did it would have likely been 20, 25 to 30 years. 'He got two life sentences but they run concurrently so it's one effectively. 'I understand the rationale behind that but the reality for me and for many other families of victims is that you're sat there thinking, well what does that mean. It doesn't make a difference if you kill one person or you kill 21. 'For me that has to be part of the process, it has to be part of the decision making process when you're putting somebody into prison. 'You're dealing with the grief, you're dealing with the emotions and now you have this to deal with too.' Kathleen said she's working closely with Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan, to have these changes made. She added the Minister has made campaigners on this issue feel like their voices are being heard. She said: 'You don't want to feel like they are just patting you on the head and then moving on to the next topic and the minister assured us, in fairness to him, that we weren't, and that we were being heard and that change will happen. But it's slow.' Meanwhile, Kathleen revealed how she spent time in St Patrick's Mental Heath Hospital after she went through a tough time during lockdowns and her cousin's suicide. She said: 'I felt I was just about holding myself together at that stage and that one wrong move and I would shatter. 'So I spoke to my GP and got a referral to a psychiatrist and with her we talked about what would be best for me. 'It was decided that maybe an inpatient period of time in St Pats would be good. The Irish Mirror's Crime Writers Michael O'Toole and Paul Healy are writing a new weekly newsletter called Crime Ireland. Click here to sign up and get it delivered to your inbox every week 'The way it was described to me that it would be an opportunity for me to fall apart in a very safe space and then put myself back together with support. 'It was good for me in a way and I didn't fall apart. I realised I could cry and get emotional but not fall apart and I could survive. 'It was really good for me, they were fantastic in there.' However, Kathleen said despite all the grief of losing her sons in such an horrific way, she tries to keep a happy disposition, and to remember them in such a way. She added: 'I need to live and enjoy life and to laugh and to smile. If you give me a chance to talk about Eoghan and Ruairi you will see a smile. 'I'm very proud of what they inspire in me and in others.'
NZ Herald
20-05-2025
- NZ Herald
Wellington father jailed for fracturing baby son's leg, arms, ribs and skull
Today in the Wellington District Court, Judge Noel Sainsbury said it was clear the injuries were non-accidental and were caused by blunt force trauma, shaking or bending the boy, who at that stage wasn't even 4 months old. The judge said injuries must have occurred over the previous three and a half months when the man was alone, caring for his son. Despite the injury to the skull, there had been no long-term brain damage, although Judge Sainsbury said it was probably more luck than anything else. 'It was a breach of trust, he was totally at your mercy,' the judge told the man during his sentencing. A young dad who 'should have asked for help' The man's lawyer Letizea Ord said her client was 22 years old when his son was born in September 2022. A sad aspect of this case was that the man was looking forward to being a father and wanted to be a good one. But left to care for the baby, she said he was unable to accept he wasn't coping and, in hindsight, should have asked for help. She said her client had pleaded guilty and taken responsibility for his actions and was 'heartbroken' at the injuries he had caused his son. But he had opened up to the report writer about the reasons for his loss of control and was motivated to undertake the programmes probation had suggested, including anger management and alcohol and drug treatment. It was how to engage in those courses that presented Judge Sainsbury with a problem. Ord argued that if the court took into account the man's youth, remorse, guilty plea, willingness to undertake programmes, and time spent on electronically monitored bail and in custody, the judge could reduce the sentence to below two years' jail. In doing so, the man would be eligible for home detention and able to undertake the recommended programmes, which he hadn't been able to access while in custody, she said. Yet if he received a longer prison sentence, by the time the Parole Board considered his release, he would be close to the end of his penalty and it would be unable to impose any release conditions. Unread letters of apology Crown prosecutor Rushika De Silva opposed any community-based sentence. She said while the man had written apology letters, several family members had refused to read them. And although he'd indicated a willingness to undertake restorative justice, that hadn't happened. The Crown submitted that a sentence of 30 months' imprisonment was appropriate. In handing down his sentence, Judge Sainsbury acknowledged the man had spent 19 months in jail, more time than if he had been sentenced for the charges he had faced. And as a sentenced prisoner, he was eligible for parole after serving a third of his sentence. 'I can't change the Sentencing or the Parole Act,' he said. Judge Sainsbury also said the man was remanded in custody because he hadn't always complied with his bail conditions. But the judge said he couldn't justify manipulating the sentence to one of home detention. On two charges of causing grievous bodily harm with reckless disregard for safety, the man was jailed for 26 months, with the judge directing that it was for the Parole Board to set the man's release conditions. Judge Sainsbury granted the man interim name suppression but deferred a decision on permanent suppression until a hearing at a later date. Catherine Hutton is an Open Justice reporter, based in Wellington. She has worked as a journalist for 20 years, including at the Waikato Times and RNZ. Most recently she was working as a media adviser at the Ministry of Justice.
