Murdered police mother submits petition to Parliament on maximum sentences

Standing behind 33 white crosses, one for every police officer killed in the line of duty, Diane Hunt said her son was killed for his uniform.

It was for his badge that Matthew Hunt was shot and killed in Auckland on June 19 while conducting a routine police traffic stop, he said.

“Every day I think, ‘Why Matt?’

“But then I say to myself, ‘Well, who should it be then? I can’t say it should be Fred or Ted. But why Matt?’ There are no answers. I don’t know, “Hunt said.

“So I just sit there thinking, ‘Why Matt? Why Matt?'”

Hunt said he wanted to change his son’s name, which would improve the lives of the police officers who keep New Zealanders safe “every day.”

Hunt presented a compelling 39,286 petition to Parliament today calling for mandatory life sentences for people convicted of murdering a police officer and their eligibility for parole automatically lowered.

The petition says the measure would require amendments to the Sentencing Act of 2002 and the Parole Act of 2002.

Hunt launched the petition on July 30, the day her son would have turned 29.

“I do not want probation for the murderers of police officers in New Zealand – a murder sentence here can mean about 10 years in jail and I do not think it is an appropriate sentence for the murder of a civil servant doing his job,” he said Hunt. .

“The first responders have this on their shoulders every day they go to work, they all need to get home.

“I don’t want to suggest that the police be armed, but there must be another deterrent and this could be the way to prevent this from happening to anyone else in New Zealand.”

Presenting the petition to Police Minister Poto Williams, Hunt urged elected members to use their place in Parliament to bring the petition to life.

She was supported by her local Whangaparoa MP, National’s Mark Mitchell, and Sam Swaffield, a friend of Matthew Hunt, who presented her with a tag honoring the 33 police officers who have been killed in the line of duty.

Williams promised to put the petition through the entire selection committee process, but said the judiciary and the levers it had during sentencing could require the change.

“And I support that. This is an issue that will ultimately rest with the courts and the justice system.”

But that would be part of the petition’s select committee process.

Hunt was killed when he and his partner tried to stop a car just before 10 a.m. on June 19.

He was shot multiple times with a long-barreled weapon, which according to the Herald was a high-powered assault rifle.

Hunt’s colleague was also shot multiple times, but managed to escape and survived the attack.

A man has been charged with murdering Hunt, attempting to murder the other police officer and injuring a member of the public when he allegedly fled the scene in a car.

A woman has been charged with being an accessory to Hunt’s murder after the fact, by allowing the accused killer to leave the scene in a car and avoid arrest.

Both have pleaded not guilty and are in custody awaiting trial in Auckland High Court next year.