The 14-year-old who used a baseball bat to murder a Scottish tourist in Taupō back in 2008, and had earlier attacked another woman, 'remains an undue risk” according to the Parole Board.
A written ruling on the now 29-year-old Jahche Broughton also revealed his thoughts at the time of the offending.
'He said he thought at the time of the violence, that violence with regard to both of these women was, in his words, ‘normal' and that the offending was ‘an accident'.”
The ruling also revealed that, in a March 2022 appearance before the Board, Broughton denied any sexual aspect to his offending, though 'the evidence seemed clear that the female victim's [Aim] lower clothing had been partially removed”.
Broughton attacked Aim with a baseball bat after she left a party in the early hours of the morning to return to her accommodation
Two weeks before he bashed 26-year-old Aim to death, Broughton attacked and seriously injured another young woman by hitting her on the head with a rock.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 12-and-a-half years at the High Court in Rotorua back in 2009.
The report noted the Parole Board lacked an up-to-date psychological report on Broughton, and that his continued claim there was no sexual aspect to the murder remained a concern.
The Board said a psychological report would be needed to provide guidance for 'the best way forward for him now”.
'It should focus on Mr Broughton's risk, what further rehabilitation might be appropriate to meet that risk, what reintegration might be appropriate for him and any comments on his release planning,” the ruling said.
'In the meantime, he remains an undue risk.”
The Parole Board also noted he will be seen again before July 31, 2023.
A Coronial hearing in the wake of the murder found that, on the night he attacked a woman with a rock, Broughton had been drinking vodka and was unsupervised and out on the streets.
"It certainly raised the issue as [to] what a 14-year-old boy is doing out on the streets of Taupō in the small hours of the morning with alcohol and predisposed, it seems, to such violent behaviour," said Coroner Dr Wallace Bain.
3 comments
Rehabilitation.
Posted on 06-04-2023 12:47 | By morepork
Regulars here will know I favour rehabilitation over punishment. But there are times when we simply have to remove threats from the community. It is sad to me that this young man had the values of "bash" instilled in him from an early age and is now so broken that he is, to all intents and purposes, irreparable. Unless this cultural flaw is addressed and we, as a community, work to make family violence unacceptable, we are going to reap a whirlwind of awful cases and lose many young people who might have been valuable members of our society. Violence, whether within the whanau, the family, the schoolyard, or on the streets, has to be de-glamourized and other ways of solving issues have to be found. Penalties for crimes of violence must be increased and the general attitude to violence needs to be changed.
Rehabilitation(2)
Posted on 06-04-2023 13:08 | By morepork
The influence of video games and movies which extol violence needs to be discussed. (I'm not in favour of censorship, but rather, equipping people to think for themselves and separate fantasy and special effects from reality.) Schools should encourage classrom debate on these issues. Clubs, bars, places where people gather for friendly interaction, should help to establish the need for a change of mind about the "bash" culture. It shouldn't take legislation to stop people hitting their kids. The difference between an occasional corrective slap (currently illegal) and a beating, needs to be discussed and considered. General awareness of the problem should be raised, so it can be addressed. As a student teacher (when schools used canes and straps) I was told: "If that kid was the same size as you, and HE had a cane, would you still want to hit him?" Find a better way.
Thanks to SunLive.
Posted on 07-04-2023 11:40 | By morepork
For giving me a voice on this. I really appreciate it and could not get everything into a single post. I won't make a habit of it.
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to make a comment.