New Zealand’s youngest convicted killer, Bailey Junior Kurariki, lashed out at media on Friday morning after appearing in court for breaching bail charges.
The 19-year-old spat at photographers, pushing them out of his way as he left the Manukau District Court.
Kurariki was 13 when he was jailed for 7 years in 2001 after being convicted of the manslaughter of pizza delivery man Michael Choy.
He was paroled last May but has been back in court three times for breaching parole conditions.
In his latest appearance he was released on bail for all breaches until May.
And is anyone really surprised by any of this. Lock a child away with criminals during his impressionable and formative years and it is no surprise that you get someone out the other end who is likely to go onto commit further crimes. We as New Zealanders must wake up to the fact that he is a product of a system we designed, one that has a long history of making young men angrier and more disengaged from society. Furthermore we’ve subjected Bailey to a hate campaign driven by the frankly racist and medieval Sensible Sentencing Trust and widely reported on by the media.
Kurariki committed a disgusting and horrible crime and I cannot even begin to imagine how it effected Michael Choy’s family. It must be said that keeping crime free once out of prison is a difficult task – our recidivism rates prove that. However it would be even more difficult for Kurariki considering the constant media attention and harassment he is receiving from the likes of the media and the special interest groups who have no interest in ensuring his successful integation back into society.
