New Zealand’s Labour government has repealed the controversial “three strikes” law under which a mentally ill man was sentenced to seven years in prison for trying to kiss a stranger in the street.
The law, introduced by the previous National-led government, forced judges to automatically give a maximum sentence to any criminals who had committed three serious sex, violent or drug crimes over their lifetime – regardless of the timeframe of offending, discretion of the judge, or other mitigating factors.
