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Violent criminals given skiing holiday
VIOLENT criminals were given a taxpayer-funded skiing holiday this week.Three inmates from Malmsbury Juvenile Justice Centre spent Tuesday and Wednesday skiing at Mt Stirling in Victoria's high country. Prisoners involved included Dang Pham, 20, who was locked up for his role in two stabbings. Pham was one of a group who a judge said "mercilessly" bashed a man unconscious in a cafe, then stabbed in the liver another man who intervened. While on bail for the first attack, Pham held a man while he was stabbed by an associate in a fight over a bottle of fish sauce. That But this week Pham frolicked in the snow, four months after a County Court judge sentenced him to three years in Malmsbury. The County Court had been told Pham had psychiatric and psychological problems and a low intellectual ability. The holiday group, accompanied by three chaperones, began a cross-country adventure on Tuesday, skiing for about 6km before setting up camp in a hut 5km from Mt Stirling. One chaperone said the prisoners camped metres from a group of unsuspecting female holidayers. Malmsbury's annual ski jaunt was part of a reward scheme that has provided inmates with perks, prison officers said. Inmates have been given leave from jail to go deep-sea fishing, horse-riding and sailing, as well as on regular cinema and ten-pin bowling excursions, the officers said. On Wednesday, the inmates returned to Mt Stirling resort, wandering between the ski shop and their bus, near dozens of school children. The ski trip took place three days after a Malmsbury inmate escaped during a visit to Werribee Zoo and three months after a judge described Victoria's juvenile justice system as a "decomposing body". A juvenile justice source said it cost taxpayers $160,000 to hold each Malmsbury inmate for a year, a figure that included the expensive perks. Opposition Community Services spokeswoman Helen Shardey said it was totally inappropriate to send criminals on a ski trip. "There would be thousands of Victorian children who never have the opportunity to go skiing and taxpayers would be rightly upset that this is what their money is being spent on," Mrs Shardey said. "Being sent to Malmsbury is not meant to be a holiday or a reward for what you have done wrong. Going skiing should not be part of the deal." The offenders had undergone comprehensive risk assessments and met stringent requirements.Ms Garbutt's spokeswoman, Manika Naidoo, said: "The Government recognises the need to balance the rehabilitation of young offenders with the right of the community to safety." Excuse Me; I'm going to go howl. Posted by: Jackal 2005-08-22 |
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