Act Party leader David Seymour wants to give judges the power to hand down longer sentences to people who commit violent crimes against people at their place of work.

Seymour announced the new plank in the party’s tough-on-crime campaign outside Jyotis Dairy in Mt Roskill, where dairy owner Bhavana Patel was brutally attacked by hammer-wielding robbers last week.

Patel told Seymour she “felt as if she had died” during the attack and feared for her life when two men attacked her with hammers as she stood behind the counter.

Police confirmed there had been no arrests in the case and they were still investigating.

Seymour wants the Sentencing Act 2002 amended so judges must take into account the fact that a serious violent offence occurred against a worker during their course of work as an aggravating factor.

That means if a victim suffered a serious violent crime in their workplace or during the course of their work, a judge will be able to hand down a longer sentence.

He said victims like Patel were exactly the people he was trying to help with the amendment to the act.

Seymour said it was particularly important in situations where the worker and/or their family was particularly vulnerable, for example in a dairy or store where people were working alone, or had an adjoining home.

Seymour pointed out the increase in violent crime against workers on the frontline.

“It’s time to take an approach that puts victims first, so New Zealand’s shopkeepers, taxi and bus drivers, security guards, small retailers and other frontline workers can operate without fear,” Seymour said.

“The frequency and intensity of retail crime is on the rise. We see shocking images of workers being assaulted in the media every day.

The 'reckless' attack by hammer-wielding offenders on two people at Auckland's Jyotis Dairy caught on camera. Photo / Supplied

“Dairy owners and other small retailers are now putting themselves inside cages so criminals can’t get behind the counter. There is no place for this kind of senseless violence in New Zealand, the law needs to reflect this.”

The announcement follows Act’s call for 17-year-olds to be tried as adults in the legal system - another plank in Act’s platform ahead of the general election in three months.

Seymour also released data on retail crime which showed 18,769 aggravated robberies from 2017 to April 2023, but only 8,162 proceedings.

“Every instance of aggravated robbery in a workplace represents an instance where the worker faces a risk of real harm,” Seymour said.

“Too often, workers on the frontline of an aggravated robbery suffer completely unprovoked assaults, making the prospect of an attack even more distressing.”

Seymour said it was time to send New Zealand a message: “That crime will be punished, that criminals can’t get away with committing senseless violent acts on people trying to earn a living, and that victims are at the heart of the justice system.”

ACT leader David Seymour with candidate Parmjeet Parmar at the Jyotis Dairy in Mt Albert. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

Act described the current law as “inadequate” to protect retail workers - especially dairy workers who treated the store as an extended home.

In a release about the amendment, Act said there were stronger protections for people in their homes than in their workplaces.

This inconsistency needed to be corrected because “a crime carried out against someone in their place of work can be just as traumatising as a home invasion and the effects just as devastating.”

“People who run dairies, liquor stores, or takeaway outlets often spend more hours at work than they do at home.

“Sometimes they work alone and are particularly vulnerable to multiple offenders, or they’re at work with their family.

It said some workplaces, particularly dairies, were attached to homes and for these people their workplace is like a second home.

“The law should treat these crimes with greater seriousness. New Zealanders deserve to feel safe at their place of work, just as they should feel safe in their home.”

Act would:

Amend the Sentencing Act 2002 so that judges must take into account the fact that a serious violent offence occurred against a worker during their course of work as an aggravating factor. That means if a victim suffered a serious violent crime in their workplace or during the course of their work, a judge will be able to hand down a longer sentence.