STRUGGLE to Reach the Bridge of Light - an excerpt
PAGE 210 - 211
Murderer! I killed my father!
I was fifteen years old and my case was tried in a Youth Court. We didn't have a lot of money for legal fees, so I was very grateful to be represented by Mr. Martin, the lawyer my mother had worked for throughout most of my childhood. Mr. Martin was surprised and shocked to learn that my mother had been abused. Never had she breathed a word of it to anyone, and always she cleverly hid the marks and bruises inflicted upon her by wearing the right clothing to cover the evidence of her husband's abuse.
The Court deemed that I was old enough to know the difference between right and wrong. And that was true. I was more than old enough to know that what my father had been doing to my mother for all those years was wrong. His despicable behaviour needed to be stopped but, even I knew, it did not warrant death.
Mr. Martin explained to me that the Youth Court in New Zealand dealt with young people fourteen to sixteen years of age. He also explained to me that less than a third of young offenders were prosecuted in Youth Court. This gave my mother and me some hope. But our hope was short-lived. I did not escape prosecution. The reason I did not escape was because I denied the charges. I denied that I had murdered my father.
"I just pushed him. It was an accident," I insisted. "I hadn't meant to kill him. I just wanted to stop him from hurting Mom," I told the Judge.
My case was heard in the High Court.
If I had not denied the charges, I later learned, my case may have been dealt with in a Rangatahi Court, which operates like a Youth Court but held on marae and follows Maori culltural processes. I didn't know but I learned that there are twelve Rangatahi Courts in New Zealand designed to involve the wider community in supporting offenders to find new direction in their lives. It was believed this would cut the rates of re-offending.
To use the Rangatahi Court, I was told by Mr. Martin, I must admit to the charges. I must admit that I murdered my father. I could not do that ..............................
STRUGGLE to Reach the Bridge of Light is available in kindle and paperback formats on all Amazon sites. You will find it in my Amazon Author's Page at https://amazon.com/author/audreyaustin
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