Police appeal Filipo sentence

Police have appealed the sentence of Losi Filipo, who was discharged without conviction for his 2015 attack on four people in Wellington.

The solicitor-general reviewed the sentencing by Judge Bruce Davidson and determined police may appeal on a point of law.

The Crown Law Office yesterday confirmed police had filed an application seeking leave to appeal at the High Court in Wellington.

The discharge without conviction has fuelled wide public debate since it was revealed this week.

Both the sentencing judge and New Zealand Rugby have copped heavy criticism for their part in it.

Filipo was initially retained as a contracted player with the Wellington Rugby Union but after a day of intense public scrutiny following the release of the sentence, his terminated.

NZ Rugby came under fire after it was revealed neither they, nor the Wellington union, had contacted the victims of the October 2015 attack.

After a barrage of media interviews on Wednesday morning, NZ Rugby chief executive Steve Tew said he would make a priority of contacting the victims.

Wellington Lions coach Earl Va’a made an apology to the victims yesterday, as did former All Black Sir John Kirwan who made a public apology on TV’s Breakfast programme on behalf of the NZ rugby community.

In Va’a’s apology he said the NPC team was ‘‘deeply affected’’ agreement was by the actions of Filipo who was on the cusp of selection as a wing.

Filipo was 17 at the time of the assault. The victims said he approached them angrily on a central Wellington street in the early hours. Two of the victims were men and two women.

Victim Olivia Samuel said was ‘‘really scary’’.

‘‘Losi was seeing red, it was like he was unrecognisable. He was so focused on fighting that he couldn’t hear anything else going on around on him. It was really scary,’’ she said.

‘‘The whole fight kind of just ended, and I remember the two brothers running around the road screaming and cheering. It was like they were celebrating they it had won. Meanwhile Greg was looking dead, they didn’t care.’’

Judge Davidson’s decision to discharge Filipo without conviction has also caused fierce debate among those with significant experience in law.

Professor of law at Auckland University Bill Hodge said it was wrong to go soft on Filipo.

‘‘I find that unfortunate, it sets up a class system, it sets up a two standard, two-tier system – one for athletes and one for everybody else,’’ Hodge said.

But Robert Lithgow, QC, said it was the legal system working as it should.

Lithgow criticised ‘‘wild and inaccurate attacks on the court system’’ and said the sentencing act required – no matter how minor or serious the offence – that a judge consider dealing with the matter without a conviction.