The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has referred its first miscarriage of justice case after a 15-year-old was sentenced to imprisonment and served time at an adult prison.
The teen, who is identified only as 'Mr G', was sentenced in 2001 to 11 months in jail for a number of offences including male assaults female, driving with excess breath alcohol, and unlawfully getting into a motor vehicle, the CCRC said in a statement.
The documentation filed in the district court recorded an incorrect date of birth for Mr G, saying he was then 17 years old.
At the time, section 8 of the Criminal Justice Act 1985 prohibited anyone under 16 from being sentenced to imprisonment except for a purely indictable offence. The CCRC said none of the charges Mr G faced were "purely indictable" offences.
Mr G appealed his sentence on the grounds that the sentencing judge hadn't given "sufficient recognition" to his personal mitigating factors, including his age. However, the High Court hearing proceeded on the basis that Mr G was 17 years old and the appeal was dismissed.
Although Mr G unsuccessfully appealed against his conviction in 2001, CCRC chief commissioner Colin Carruthers KC said this case shows why the Commission was established.
"It came to us when it was realised that Mr G was only 15 years old when he was sentenced to imprisonment, contrary to the law which prohibits the imprisonment of those under 16 years of age," he said.
"A mistake had been made and went undetected. It was this mistake that led the Commission to the decision that it was in the interests of justice to refer the case to an appeal court so that the issue could be considered and, if appropriate, the convictions quashed."
Mr G arrived in New Zealand under the Refugee Quota Programme in 1993 when he was 7 years old. He completed some schooling here but the CCRC said he struggled and left school during third form (year 9) without the ability to read or write in English.
Mr G applied to the Commission on September 25, 2020, asking for a review of his convictions and sentence. He said he was incorrectly sent to prison when he was 15.
CCRC said it's gathered evidence from government agencies that recognised Mr G was 15 years old at the time of his conviction and sentence in 2001.
On the basis that Mr G was under the age of 16 at the time of his conviction and sentencing, the CCRC said it's satisfied that a miscarriage of justice has occurred.
Chief commissioner Carruthers said the potential for a miscarriage of justice can arise from a range of criminal offences.
"The cases which tend to attract the most public attention are those involving high-profile and serious crimes, such as murder with long periods of imprisonment. As a result, miscarriages of justice involving lesser crimes often get little or no attention," he said.
"However, the consequences are similar: the stigma of a conviction, separation from family, the difficulty of reintegration into society, and sometimes the brutal treatment in prison."
