Teina Pora will receive a compensation payout with an inflation adjustment. Minister of Justice Andrew Little says he will be awarded almost an extra $1mil plus $45,000 in costs.
After 23 years of fighting, Pora can finally have closure.
Private Investigator Tim McKinnel, “It's over now. In terms of his legal case, there is nothing left to fight for now. He has achieved everything there is possible to achieve.”
That was the biggest question answered today by Minister of Justice, Andrew Little. A sum of $988,099 paid by the government to Teina Pora in respect of inflation adjustment.
Minister Little says, “Look who can put a price on 20 years, nearly 20 years of a young life.”
An initial figure estimated from the High Court case was between $600,000-700,000 extra that Pora would be paid. The latest figure calculated on the latest statistics from Treasury.
“The previous compensation he received was paid into a trust account that was set up with independent trustees to assist him to manage that.”
That compensation, of $2.52mil paid to Pora last year alongside today's near million dollar announcement according to Pora's lawyer Jonathan Krebs, does still not fully appease what Pora has suffered.
“It still remains the person in New Zealand who has served the longest time in custody under a wrongful conviction, and nonetheless he is the least compensated on a per-day basis.”
Pora was wrongfully convicted of the 1992 rape and murder of Susan Burdett. He spent 20 years in jail before being released on parole in 2014. The Privy Council finally quashing his convictions in 2015.
Minister Little says, “$3.5m? Is that still enough for 20 years behind bars for a crime he didn't commit? People will have different thoughts about that.”
Little says that no further claims or actions will now arise from all issues of the wrongful issues of Mr Pora.