RSA killer awarded compo for strip search
RSA shooter and triple murderer William Bell has been awarded compensation after he was illegally strip searched in prison.
Bell became one of New Zealand’s most notorious killers when he gunned down three people and wounded a fourth at the Mt Wellington-Panmure RSA in December 2001.
Mary Hobson, 44, Wayne Johnson, 56, and William Absolum, 63, were killed during the robbery.
Bell shot all three in the chest before bludgeoning them with the butt of his shotgun.
He also shot Susan Couch, who worked part time doing the club’s accounts.
The Department of Corrections paid Couch — the sole survivor of the shootings — $300,000 in punitive damages in 2012.
Last month, Bell was awarded $1000 in compensation, a Corrections spokesperson confirmed.
It came after the 2018 High Court ruling that compensation was payable to prisoners who were subject to an unlawful strip search at Auckland Prison in 2016.
Some 200 prisoners were searched as part of a hunt for weapons and home brew after prison guards were attacked.
Other high-profile offenders who have been awarded $1000 for the illegal search included the two inmates who began the legal proceedings, Arthur Taylor and Phillip John Smith.
But the spokesperson said the compensation was paid to the Ministry of Justice in accordance with the Prisoners’ and Victims’ Claims Act 2005.
“The ministry may then deduct any reparation, legal aid or money owed to victims under earlier orders before paying the balance into the victims’ claims trust bank account and publishing information on the ministry’s website so that victims can make claims against it.
“Victims have six months in which to make a claim.”
Bell was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum nonparole period of 33 years, initially. On appeal, the non-parole period was reduced to 30 years. He was also sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment for attempted murder and a concurrent 12 years for aggravated robbery.