Three Strikes might have kept this victim alive

The Herald reports:

A recidivist offender who shot a small-time Auckland drug dealer while robbing him of his stash and recent gaming machine jackpot had been on electronically monitored post-prison release conditions at the time of the murder – but had cut off his tracking device.

That factor of Benjamin “Dekoy” Mcintosh’s murder in June 2022 was highlighted for the first time last week as prosecutors sought a lengthy non-parole period for Ethan Dane Dodds, who returned to the High Court at Auckland for sentencing.

Justice Graham Lang agreed that Section 104 of the Sentencing Act – calling for a non-parole period of at least 17 years in some of the most egregious murder cases, including ones that took place in the course of a robbery – had been met. But he also ultimately agreed with Dodds’ lawyer that imposing such a sentence would be “manifestly unjust” because the killing, while reckless, had not been planned or intended.

The 25-year-old was instead ordered to serve a life sentence with a minimum period of 12 years before he can begin to apply for parole.

So possibly out after 12 years. What is his background:

He noted a long list of prior convictions resulting in him having spent the majority of his life so far either in state care or prison. He has rarely spent more than three months at a time outside criminal justice facilities since the age of 11.

Now he is 25 so for 14 years he has constantly offended. But he just gets a series of short sentences so he gets out again and again and again, with the near inevitable killing that follows.

If there was a good three strikes regime, then the cycle of continual release and offending would be broken. He might still offend when out, but there would be far fewer victims.