It's not uncommon for us to tell you on this show that a judge has discounted a criminal's sentence because of a cultural report.

Generally this is because the report mentions that the person has poverty, trauma, addiction or something else in their background that means they should receive a lighter sentence.

Well it turns out there is actually no legal requirement for cultural report writers to check if any of the information they're told by the accused is true.

This came to the fore in a case in Hamilton, where the judge highlighted that information in a cultural report didn't match up with a pre-sentence report written about the same person.

Lead cultural report writer Sentence Equality Lead cultural report writer Tara Oakley spoke to Heather du Plessis-Allan about the issue.



LISTEN ABOVE

It's not uncommon for us to tell you on this show that a judge has discounted a criminal's sentence because of a cultural report.
Generally this is because the report mentions that the person has poverty, trauma, addiction or something else in their background that means they should receive a lighter sentence.
Well it turns out there is actually no legal requirement for cultural report writers to check if any of the information they're told by the accused is true.
This came to the fore in a case in Hamilton, where the judge highlighted that information in a cultural report didn't match up with a pre-sentence report written about the same person.
Lead cultural report writer Sentence Equality Lead cultural report writer Tara Oakley spoke to Heather du Plessis-Allan about the issue.
 
LISTEN ABOVE

With a straight down the middle approach, Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive on Newstalk ZB delivers the very latest news and views to New Zealanders as they wrap up their day.