Mark Ron: General Debates 
Mark Ron: General Debates 
[Volume:619;Page:15035] 
RON MARK (NZ First) 
: 
 Phillip Layton Edwards on the face of it is just another example of the failure of the Government and society to deal effectively with and rehabilitate a criminal delinquent. Phillip Edwards started out as a small-time crook in 1997 with 16 convictions for typical entry-level crimes such as unlawful interference with a motor vehicle. Over a short space of time he graduated. He then started to appear in the courts according to his rap sheet here for assault stealing vehicles burgling homes carrying offensive weapons threatening behaviour more counts of assaulting women jumping bail breaching police bail and failing to do periodic detention. Finally he was put away in jail for 18 months on a range of convictions. He served 5 months having served 4 months on remand and in his time in jail he was assessed and identified by staff of the Department of Corrections as being dangerous and highly likely to reoffend. 
On 9 July 2003 he was released on parole without conditions under the understanding that he would be living with his auntie. In fact he went out on to the street to live under bridges. On 13 July 2003 5 days after he had been released he offended again by fighting in a public place. On 16 July a week later he offended again and on 18 July he was convicted and discharged again to go back living on the streets. Can anyone see a problem here? Well firstly I would say that this case quite clearly shows that the Government’s belief in parole is misplaced. Parole does not rehabilitate and nor do short sentences. But there he was—on the street. Sadly within 2 days of that conviction he killed David McNee. 
But we now know that on 12 September 2002 he became the prime suspect in a reported aggravated burglary of a judge’s home. He invaded the home of a member of the judiciary yet despite extensive investigations a DNA strike and a confession he was not charged. The question is why. What were the consequences of his not being charged? I can tell the House that the failure of the police to prosecute him on that offence and put him in jail meant that he went on to commit a further 11 crimes against the public culminating in the murder of David McNee. 
Some say that McNee got what he deserved. In fact I have one such letter from a member of the public here saying that McNee was just a cruising faggot and that Edwards should get a medal. Well here is the point: regardless of what views some people out there might have Edwards’ track record shows that quite clearly he was on a pathway to murder. The point is the victim could have well been an auntie or a nana of anybody whose home he was burgling who just happened to get in the way. It could have been one of us whose car he was stealing who happened to get in the way. 
So what went wrong? Well there are serious questions that must be asked and I would ask these of the Minister. Why did the police not proceed with the prosecution of a count of aggravated burglary of the Shaw residence? They had the evidence they had a confession they had a man locked up in jail already and they could have proceeded with that charge. Authoritative people have said that Phillip Edwards would have got 3 to 5 years on that count. That would have ensured that he was in jail and he would not then have gone on to kill David McNee. Why did the police not proceed? Why did Mr Shaw not front? He used the excuse purportedly of trauma. Well we know about trauma: policemen firemen firewomen and ambulance officers deal with trauma every day yet they still give evidence when required; women who are raped and children who are molested still face that trauma and give evidence as part of their responsibility to uphold the law. The police had evidence that a man had broken into the home of a member of the judiciary yet they failed to prosecute and uphold the law. There are those out there on the streets who say all those players are directly responsible for Mr McNee’s death. 
There are other questions. Did the police receive any instruction from on high?