A convicted rapist described as "virtually immobile" is costing taxpayers over four times the amount of keeping an inmate in prison.
Marcus Shane Solomon, the son of Whale Watch founder Bill Solomon, was charged with 10 counts of sexual violation, rape and kidnapping in Kaikōura during the 1980s and 1990s. He was sentenced last week to eight years and four months in prison.
But sending Solomon to prison wasn't a straightforward process. After being found guilty in February, the overweight man's health started deteriorating, and he ended up at Burwood Hospital in Christchurch.
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The prison hospital didn't have the resources to treat Solomon, so Judge Zohrab jailed him to hospital to receive treatment to lose weight. But the high cost of keeping him in hospital has rubbed some people the wrong way.
The average daily expense at Burwood Hospital is $1250, according to a Canterbury District Health Board spokesperson. And on top of that is the cost of specialist doctor care or nurses to take care of the patient.
It costs just $300 a day to keep an inmate in prison.
Justice Minister Andrew Little said cases like this are "difficult" to deal with. Solomon has committed serious offences, so the man should be punished. But if his obesity is so bad that the prison system can't accommodate him, he has to go somewhere else, Mr Little told RadioLIVE.
"It's not as though he's free to go off and do what he likes. Obviously his health means that he's incredible limited," Mr Little said, adding that he understands people are angry that Solomon isn't serving time the same way other criminals have.
But Mr Little said he doesn't know what the solution is other than what's happening at the moment.
National Party Corrections spokesman David Bennett told RadioLIVE Solomon "is obviously a serious criminal and he needs to be serving his time." He said there is justification for making him lose weight so he can be put in prison.
Mr Bennett said it's the job of corrections to find a solution, but recommends there be a requirement that Solomon has to meet within a certain amount of time so that he knows he has to lose weight to return to prison.
Newshub.
