I was quite surprised at the strength of my emotional reaction to the news of that armed ram raid which included a machete attack on the Hamilton dairy worker.  

Firstly, it was probably a reaction which was a result of frustration that these headlines just keep on recurring, but also, I think it was mainly a reaction of cumulative empathy for the plight of people who are working on the front-line of retail and dairy and their daily vulnerability to these attacks.  

One aspect of the video footage of the attack is particularly shocking, in that it is clear that the only thing the dairy worker was trying to do was to get away and to protect himself.

And yet the attack still came, resulting in severed fingers, and I hate to think what the result would have been if he hadn't managed to get his hand up to protect his face and head.  

So I just want to say that my heart goes out to all the people that have been affected by these acts of violence, and how much we as a community want these people to be supported.  

The second ingredient of my emotional reaction was of anger and frustration, in that we just keep seeing these incidents occurring. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had a guts full, and frankly, while it is a continuation of my anger and emotion, I want some serious consequences for this stuff.

I don’t care about the age of these people.  

If you are going into a dairy and attacking someone with a machete, you don’t need a family conference and a cuddle, you need to be locked up, and you need to be locked up for a long time.

And this is where we get to the bit that the justice system is so preoccupied with, the rights and the feelings and the plight of the perpetrators, that they have lost sight of the need to protect our communities.  

Now I haven’t sat in on any judgements recently, but I do remember for my brief time as a lawyer how easy it was to get caught up in sympathy for the unfortunate tragic lives that some perpetrators have led.

But I think the time has come where we as a society need to send a clear message, regularly and consistently, that this sort of violence is unacceptable, and will be punished.

And if it means shoving more people in prison, then so be it. At least they won't be out again doing the same thing, because our perception at the moment is that all they're going to get is a group family conference and a stiff talking too from auntie or grandma. I say auntie or grandma because more often than not, mum and dad probably don’t give it toss.  

I heard of a case recently where the police arrested some young offenders for a robbery, delivered them home, got abused by the family and mocked by the perpetrators who said they’d be out doing it a few hours later - which they were  - and were caught again. Look, I know, individual cases and examples like this don’t necessarily form a strong basis for forming a sentencing policy.

But surely we’ve all had a guts full and it’s time for the Government to demand some stronger consequences. Because frankly – we have had enough.

LISTEN ABOVE