Former Green Party MP Golriz Ghahraman will find out her punishment on Thursday for shoplifting more than $9000 in clothing. …
The sentencing hearing began with defence lawyer Annabel Cresswell telling the court a mental health report about Ghahraman was the crux of her submissions.
It found a “clear diagnosis of complex PTSD” with two key contributing factors: her early life in war-torn Iran and the “public vitriol, threats and abuse” she received while in Parliament.
As I blogged previously, Ghahraman grew up in Mashad, which is around 1,600 kms from the border with Iraq. That is like the distance between Auckland and Invercargill.
Cresswell said the “threats of rape and death were constant and ongoing and credible”, to the point where her security detail was similar to that of the Prime Minister.
It was not similar to the PM. In no way does that mean the threats were not vile and disturbing. The PM has 24/7 armed police officers. Ghahraman had a parliamentary security officer escort her on and off the campus.
Crown Solicitor Alysha McClintock said the offending had the hallmarks of pre-meditation.
“This was a spree of offending. It’s not a one-off event. It’s not a ‘moment of madness’-type case.”
There might be another explanation for the offending other than a mental health breakdown, McClintock said: “Simply that she wanted the items that she took.
”On its face, that explanation, given the [pre-meditated] nature of the conduct, appears the more likely of the two,” she said. …
The link between Ghahraman’s mental health and her criminal conduct was not as strong as the defence made it out to be, the prosecutor argued, noting a mental health assessor found there was “a possible link”.
”The possibility of that is no more than that – a possibility.”
Both the Crown and defence agreed that if the application for a discharge without conviction was dismissed, an appropriate sentence would be to convict Ghahraman and discharge her.
So the only issue is whether or not Ghahraman receives a conviction for her serial shoplifting.
David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders.
10 comments:
If she doesn’t get a conviction then NZ clearly confirms that it has a two tier justice system similar to the USA.
For this crime, as committed by former Green Party MP Golriz Ghahraman, Joe Bloggs and Jo Bloggs would be sent to prison, no questions asked.
This is the sort of case that demonstrates our tiered justice system and destroys peoples' trust in it.
If you believe that this crime was caused by "complex PTSD" and "vile comments" then you are an absolute fool.
This is an obvious case of collaboration between the criminal and judiciary.
Just who can people trust in this once great country ?
So given stresses other MPs are under do we expect to see more of them stealing for relief?
Darlene will be watching closely. With such a good outcome she will be finding some Green supporting psychologist to point out her complex PTSD. This excusing her illegal employment of the powerless.
Perhaps this is why the investigation has been delayed, the Greens want to see how sheep like Kiwis can be.
I don't know what all the fuss is about. She was only redistributing wealth like a good little communist is meant to.
Are there now going to be excuses for wrong behaviour for everyone?
This is more evidence of the insidiousness of our post truth era. No right and wrong. No personal responsibility and no consequences for our behaviours because we are always going to be the victims of something or someone else. No need to develop self control or develop a conscience. Like an animal we are reduced to being controlled by instincts and impulses beyond our control.
This is exactly parallel to the Marxist determination of putting blame on Colonisation.
What a corrupt little sh**hole of a country we have become in recent years. For those who think that wealth doesn't 'trickle down', I can assure you that corruption certainly does. If it's ok for our leaders to do it.....
I am in no doubt that Ghahraman is guilty of theft and the law must find it so. Every other criminal in the country must be able to see that she is not treated differently from them. Her punishment is something else though. As she has knowledge and skill with which to serve the community, I think it must be quite onerous 'community service'. In fact, I feel strongly that this giving back to the community ought to be used much more widely, instead of uselessly and expensively incarcerating people who are not dangerous.
Anyone else notice that she's being sentenced on the day before a long weekend? I think we all know what the outcome's going to be...
Hugh is rather cynical and with justification. The moment the sentencing was deferred the outcome was pretty much a foregone conclusion. Tomorrow night, she will probably be having a drink with the judge to celebrate.
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