Smith’s victims consider lawsuit

THE victims of recaptured murderer Phillip Smith are considering suing over the bungle that allowed him to abscond to Brazil while on temporary leave from jail.

They have asked Nicholas Davidson, QC, who has challenged the Government for years as lawyer for the Pike River families, to represent them.

The move came as the Government announced yesterday a ministerial inquiry into Smith’s case. In outlining the review, Prime Minister John Key said there were concerns about why Smith was not monitored electronically while on temporary release and why information was not shared among government departments.

‘‘It seems like a pretty simple thing ... it would be unacceptable I would have thought to let people out who are in that high-risk category,’’ he said.

Smith fled the country while on a 72-hour release from Waikato’s Spring Hill prison on November 6, using a passport he had renewed under his birth name the previous year. He was captured last Thursday in a Rio de Janeiro hostel.

A spokeswoman for the victims’ family said the murdered man’s widow and two sons, who had name suppression, were horrified to learn Smith had been able to escape and that authorities took several days to realise he was missing.

‘‘There was nothing to have stopped him coming and killing them before it was even discovered he had escaped,’’ said the woman, who is a cousin of the murdered man’s widow.

They also feared he could get an accomplice to kill them.

She said Smith’s escape had forced her cousin and children to relive the traumatic nightmare. ‘‘It’s not about the money, but are they entitled to some compensation for this?’’

When Smith was charged with sexually abusing a neighbour’s son in 1995, the High Court gave him bail with strict conditions to keep away from his victims.

A few months later, he tracked them down to their new home in the Wellington suburb of Johnsonville and killed the boy’s father in front of the family.

Smith refused to let the man’s wife help her dying husband or call an ambulance, taking her and the younger son hostage before fleeing. ‘‘It was terrible for her, especially when she virtually watched her husband die.

In the aftermath of the killing, the young boys slept underneath their beds for a long time, fearing Smith would return even though he was in jail.

Since his escape, the family doubted they could ever trust how the killer was managed in jail, the spokeswoman said.

Davidson confirmed yesterday the family had asked him to represent them in all matters associated with Smith’s escape from custody and his temporary leave.

A decision was yet to be made on whether Smith would be deported.