Justice Centre | 19 Aitken Street
DX SX10088 | Wellington
T 04 918 8800 |
F 04 918 8820
[email address] | www.justice.govt.nz
31 October 2022
Barry Murphy
[FYI request #20706 email]
Our ref: OIA 99758
Tēnā koe Mr Murphy
Official Information Act request: Costs incurred for John Sinclair
Thank you for your email of 30 September 2022, requesting, under the Official Information Act 1982
(the Act):
1. I'd like to know all the costs incurred by government for John Sinclair to date, broken
down into categories where possible
1.1 Policing costs (man hours spent each time he commits an offence).
1.2 Court costs (the costs associated with Judges, Lawyers, tracking him down, etc).
1.3 Jail costs (costs associated with him being in jail)
1.4 Bail/Home Detention costs (costs associated with monitoring and check ups)
1.5 Any other costs associated.
2. I'd like to know the total value John Sinclair has stolen over his lifetime. The recent $287k
in 2022, plus a break down by year for previous offences.
3. If possible, I'd like to know the affects of social harm he has created. While the victims
lives have completely changed, including myself, there is no way to put a dollar figure on
this, but how does the justice system consider his gambling issue & that no jail sentence
would help in his case. John Sinclair has clearly shown he does the same thing over and
over and if I had been taken seriously in 2018 and 2019, the most recent victims would not
have been in this current situation.
On 4 October 2022, we contacted you to clarify 1.5 “any other costs associated” aspect of your
request. On the same date, you agreed to clarify the scope of your request to be for the following:
Any other costs could include psychiatric assessments, impact assessments, and pretty much any
cost associated with John Sinclair that the government has incurred such as the time associated
with responding to this OIA; where there is a record of it.
I ask for a breakdown as I want to know what the
- total cost (and per year) he has incurred to the tax payer for his life in crime
- total cost (and per year) incurred for his jail (as I believe it would be cheaper to keep him locked
up than being out of jail)
- I want to see how much in total damage he has done to victims vs cost to government You were advised that the Police have accepted partial transfer of 1.1 of your request, and the
Department of Corrections has accepted partial transfer of 1.3 and 1.4. Please find below the
Ministry of Justice’s (the Ministry) response to the remainder of your request.
In response to 1.2, the Ministry can advise that for Mr Sinclair’s offences since 2019, the current
total is $21,347.71 in legal aid. However, please note that some files remain open and further
invoices may be submitted, so this figure is subject to change. Apart from legal aid, the Ministry’s
financial system is not events-based, and it is unable to provide court costs disaggregated by
specific individuals. Therefore, the remainder of this part of your request is refused under section
18(g)(i) on the grounds that the Ministry does not hold the information and there is no reason to
believe it is held by any other agency subject to the Act.
In response to part 1.5, I acknowledge the reasoning you are trying to establish however as noted
above, costs are not broken down to event-based actions and there is no requirement under the
Act for agencies to create information, compile information they do not hold, provide or prove an
opinion or respond to hypothetical questions. I am therefore refusing this part of your request under
section 18(g)(i) of the Act.
In response to part 2 of your request the Ministry does not hold this information however it may
form part of the court file. Court information is not subject to the Act under section 2(6)(a). Part 3
would require the Ministry to provide an opinion and is not a request for official information. I am
therefore also refusing these parts of your request under section 18(g)(i) of the Act.
I acknowledge that situations such as yours can be very stressful and help is available for victims
involved in criminal proceedings at Victims Support https://victimsupport.org.nz/ Additionally, if you
require any further information regarding this request, please contact Ministry of Justice Media &
Social Media Manager Joe Locke at [email address].
If you are not satisfied with my response, you have the right to complain to the Ombudsman under
section
28(3)
of
the
Act.
The
Ombudsman
may
be
contacted
by
email
at
[email address] or by phone 0800 802 602.
Nāku noa, nā
Jacquelyn Shannon
Group Manager, Courts and Tribunals, Regional Service Delivery
