CONFIDENCE IN JUDICIAL SYSTEM PUT AT RISK

OUR judicial system is a bedrock of our society.

It is a key working element of a modern civilised democracy, designed to deliver a sense of safety to citizens and an assurance that the rule of law will apply equally to all.

For a community to function cohesively, its citizens need to have faith and trust in that judicial system.

And on the whole, that is the case in Queensland and more particularly on the Gold Coast.

But there are times when that faith and trust is tested.

Today is one of those times.

The decision not to challenge the sentence handed down to coward puncher Caleb Maraku will anger a great many in our community.

Maraku, 19, was arrested and charged for his gutless attack on fellow teenager Taliesin O’Meara last November.

Footage of the incident showed Maraku and two others approaching Mr O’Meara outside a nightclub at Surfers Paradise.

Maraku moves in from the side of Mr O’Meara and smashes his fist into his jaw, knocking him out and shattering his teeth in a sickening blow that sparked outrage across our city.

At the time Maraku was serving a 12 month court-ordered ban from Surfers Paradise which was imposed in January 2017.

The court heard that Maraku had drunk eight Jack Daniels and cola cans when he attacked Mr O’Meara.

Magistrate Joan White said Maraku was a “very lucky man”.

“It could have ended in this person’s death... that happens in these circumstances,” Ms White said.

She sentenced Maraku to 12 months probation, and prohibited him from using drugs or alcohol during that time. No conviction was recorded.

The decision not to impose a custodial sentence provoked widespread criticism. Police said they would consider an appeal but yesterday, “after a thorough review and careful consideration’’, ruled it out.

This will be a bitter blow to Mr O’Meara and his mother Tasha Tardrew, who last year wrote a heartfelt open letter to Maraku imploring him to contemplate the damage he had done.

There is a risk of a wider damage – to public confidence in the judicial system.

Many will rightly ask, how is it possible for such an act to go effectively unpunished.

Maraku should not have even been there at Surfers that night. He flouted a court-ordered ban.

He inflicted a blow that, in the presiding magistrate’s own view, could have killed his victim.

Yet today he walks free, with no conviction recorded.

Is it any wonder there is a growing view that our system appears increasingly concerned about the welfare of perpetrators at the expense of their victims?