A row about court sentences at Dubbo has expanded to include Deputy Premier and Dubbo MP Troy Grant and the Labor election candidate Stephen Lawrence.
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Mr Grant and Dubbo mayor Mathew Dickerson made statements yesterday after a media report and a public statement issued by Mr Lawrence made allegations about their roles.
But Mr Grant would not be drawn about whether he had been part of discussions about lobbying Mr Hazzard to replace Dubbo magistrate Andrew Eckhold, who in recent weeks Cr Dickerson said was too lenient. Statistics contained in the national newspaper’s report suggested there was no evidence Mr Eckhold is a lenient magistrate.
Mr Lawrence, a local lawyer with the Aboriginal Legal Service, yesterday “condemned (Mr Grant’s) attempted interference with the role” of Mr Eckhold.
The claim about Mr Grant was reported yesterday in a national newspaper that Mr Hazzard’s visit, which included sitting in the court of Mr Eckhold, came “in the wake of a concerted campaign to have Mr Eckhold moved from Dubbo”.
The report said the campaign gained momentum after an early June meeting of the Dubbo Management Group, “in which senior community members discussed lobbying the newly appointed Mr Hazzard” about Mr Eckhold.
Cr Dickerson reported in his mayoral minutes column on March 21 that he was chair of the Dubbo Management Group (DMG), which sat under the Minister’s Action Group (MAG) set up by Mr Grant on behalf of then family and community services minister Pru Goward.
The report said that shortly after the June DMG meeting, Mr Grant had sent an email asking for court data to Orana Local Area Command crime manager Detective Inspector Rod Blackman, which was accidentally sent to a large number of recipients.
The Daily Liberal asked Mr Grant yesterday if he had sent the email and if he had lobbied Mr Hazzard about Mr Eckhold’s sentences and bail decisions, and if any of the events reported were incorrect.
“Having previously been a police officer of 22 years, I have a strong sense of the need for justice,” Mr Grant said in a statement.
“As the member for Dubbo, I am committed to representing my community and I will continue to raise important issues affecting my community with the relevant minister.
“The independence of the judiciary is an essential plank in our society, however sentences must reflect and not be isolated from community expectations.”
The national newspaper report said the campaign against Mr Eckhold had been led by Cr Dickerson and that he had told the media outlet in June: “What I would like to see is a new magistrate”.
Cr Dickerson said yesterday he was “concerned we are losing sight of the bigger picture here”.
“The community has expressed concerns to me about increasing petty crime in Dubbo,” he said.
“Steal from retail store went up from 193 in 2010 to 347 in 2013 (80 per cent); steal from motor vehicle up from 450 to 632 (40 per cent); motor vehicle theft up from 146 to 185 (27 per cent) as three simple examples (all 2010 calendar year to 2013 calendar year).
“This is despite increased policing numbers and better policing programs.
“Earlier in the year I met with the local magistrate and also started making inquiries (through our local member) about sentencing data to see if the community’s concerns about increased petty crime correlated with more lenient sentencing.
“My main objective is to establish facts to have a sensible debate to see whether there is a link between crime and sentencing.
“I was happy to continue making my inquiries to try and find out if the data supported the hypothesis from the community.
“At the end of September I was asked to comment on a media release issued by the Orana Law Society.
“I responded.
“What we need now are valid solutions to the issues at hand.
“That is the bigger picture.”
In his statement Mr Lawrence criticised Mr Grant for alleged interference with the independence of the judiciary.
“Some serious dirty laundry has been aired today,” Mr Lawrence said.
“It concerns matters that have been well known in the western NSW legal community for some time.
“The mayor and incredibly Deputy Premier Troy Grant, have been working together illegitimately to force our magistrate from Dubbo, simply because they don’t like how he does his job.
“This campaign has been openly discussed at meetings in front of numerous state public servants.
“When the Attorney-General rebuffed the attempts to have (Mr) Eckhold moved and “emphasised” to Mr Grant the principle of judicial independence, a campaign continued to try to influence his sentencing.”
A spokeswoman for Mr Hazzard said that as Attorney-General he regularly met with magistrates and judges and that he made it a practice to sit in courts and watch proceedings.
“He has done this in other places and intends to continue this informative and rewarding practice,” she said.
“The Attorney-General has every faith in the judiciary - and, as was reported by your paper previously, he has said that your local judicial officers have an extremely good grasp of the issues in the local areas.
“The Attorney-General will continue his efforts to make sure that government and non-government services are working together to get the best outcomes for the community and intensify efforts to deal with the root causes of crime.”