Minimising the crime

The Herald reports:

Convicted killer and X Factor contestant Shae Brider is not asking for mercy or pity, but says his success on the talent show was simply “tearing down another wall” to escape a life he left in a prison cell years ago.

However, his victim’s mother says the show’s producers should have ensured the full facts of the crime – including his seriously assaulting three other people on the same night – were fully disclosed to audiences.

Brider, 29, was sentenced to 8 years in jail for his part in the manslaughter of Jeremy Frew, 16, in Wanganui in 2004.

He was one of four charged with Jeremy’s death after what the judge described as a “rampage of violence” where the group assaulted Daniel Grey, Greg Parnell and Robert Kerrigan on the same night.

On Tuesday, Brider’s successful X Factor audition was broadcast with a segment describing the crime.

“I met some dudes and we went to a bonfire,” the Masterton man told the show. “There was a commotion with two of them and one of them stabbed the other one and he ended up passing away.”

Brider admitted he served six years in prison but no further context was given to the story.

What Brider said on television minimised what they did that night. It sounded like he was just unlucky to be caught up in a fight between two friends.

Jeremy Frew’s mother, Donna Travers, said the family should have been notified the episode was going to air and ensured the facts were told correctly. “It’s devastating for us, it revictimises us. My sister and my daughter were watching it and they had no idea it was going to be on.

“What really got to us the most was that he said Jeremy was his friend. That was the worst thing that guy could have said. My son was scared of him and his mates and he said it on the day he was killed.”

You can only feel sorry for the family.

Brider said he moved to Masterton out of respect to his victim’s family, and prison was life-changing for him.

Apart from a driving offence, he had remained clear of convictions since his release.

Now married, he works at a Masterton service station, where he said customers supported him.

It is a very good thing that Brider has turned his life around, and like the family I have no issues with the fact he is on X-Factor. But it is unfortunate that he is underplaying what happened.