PRISON BLOG FROM TIM

c/-Mt Eden Prison

A copy of my warrant of commitment for imprisonment was given to me today. The first page is for sedition –“imprisonment for a term of 2 months”. There’s also a note that leave to apply for Home Detention has been declined.” What do you expect from a judge married to a cop? What do you expect from a judge who did not even mention, at all, not even once, that I had written a personal submission to her and yet spent a majority of her time outlining the Crown’s submission? What do you expect from a judge who thinks the starting point for sentencing is even harsher than the Crown’s!? What do you expect from a judge who refused to acknowledge that the probation report suggested that I only come up for sentence if called upon (ie nothing)? Well, that judge can expect an appeal.

The timing of the sedition charges with offences committed a decade ago is purely bad luck for me. The judge used this coincidence considerably. To link the two sets of offences and to say that one aggrevates the other is going too far. The recent event could even, should even, be seen as mitigating the other. I am the first to acknowledge that I have made serious errors and embarked on regrettable and selfish actions that although undetected for many years were nevertheless shameful and (intellectually at least) ghoulish. This means I have to make amends.

Now on my way to helping the Crown – trying to stop mistakes occurring, trying to stop the government doing something it will be ashamed of, trying to stop the Crown acting illegally and unconstitutionally according to the Crown (and the judge) is sedition.

I cannot find anywhere on my commitment warrant the offence of criminal damage conspiracy which I pleaded guilty to – it was always the sedition charge that was important.

Is sending me to jail going to make me respect the authority of the Crown? Does it make you respect it?

Tim Selwyn
Prison Blogger