A classic case for the three strikes law

The Herald reports:

The man who murdered Good Samaritan Austin Hemmings in central Auckland spent eight years in an Australian jail for stabbing and killing his estranged girlfriend.

He was also jailed in New Zealand on three separate occasions for knife incidents dating back to 1987.

Under three strikes, his last conviction would have been for the maximum sentence without parole. This happened in 2004, so he would not have been out in 2008 to kill Austin Hemmings.

Instead in 2004 he only got sentenced to two years and four months, despite this being the third time he has actually stabbed someone with a knife. I tend to think stabbing someone with a knife should get attempted murder unless there are strong reasons against.

Sadly Brown may get released again on parole (and I’d love to know if he got parole for his earlier crimes). Under three strikes he would now be facing life without parole which is entirely appropriate for someone who has killed two people, and taken part in a total of five knife attacks. He is is way beyond rehabilitation, and it is a tragedy Austin Hemmings paid the price.