http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/jonty-bush/ Jonty Bush was awarded Young Australian of the Year in 2009 for her work spearheading Queensland’s One Punch Can Kill campaign. en Copyright 2013 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/victims-must-talk-accusers-can-shut-up.-this-isnt-justice/ Many of us wouldn’t know about the Right to Silence - a good thing. It’s only when you experience a criminal trial, either as the victim or the accused, that you will be exposed to this part of our justice system which provides the accused with, amongst other things, the right to not take the stand throughout their trial. It’s a shock for most victims, who by the way, are not afforded this luxury, as they enter the courtroom seeking answers which often will not come. More than 750,000 matters are initiated within the court system each year, with the vast majority (85%) resulting in guilty pleas and immediate sentencing.  But there are some crimes that have spectacularly low plead rates, and arguably are those cases where victims are most vulnerable.  feedback@thepunch.com.au (Jonty Bush) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/victims-must-talk-accusers-can-shut-up.-this-isnt-justice/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/victims-must-talk-accusers-can-shut-up.-this-isnt-justice/#item9299 Thu, 23 Aug 2012 19:40:35 +0000 Jonty Bush | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-smallest-act-of-violence-can-have-fatal-consequences/ From the moment Thomas Kelly’s parents, Ralph and Kathy, stepped in front of the media our hearts felt for this grieving family.  They had the faces of parents I’d witnessed a thousand times before, the faces of parents who have just lost their child through an act of violence. Over the past ten years I have worked with over 1,000 individuals and families bereaved by homicide.  Many of them including a one-punch fatal assault such as Thomas Kelly’s, or like my father’s. In just a few seconds in November 2000, my family’s lives changed forever when a 26-year-old male assaulted my then 49-year-old and 55 kilogram father. I waited, as the Kelly’s will, for weeks, for months and then years before the case proceeded to the Supreme Court with the offender charged with manslaughter.  feedback@thepunch.com.au (Jonty Bush) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-smallest-act-of-violence-can-have-fatal-consequences/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-smallest-act-of-violence-can-have-fatal-consequences/#item9081 Sun, 29 Jul 2012 19:50:55 +0000 Jonty Bush | Author bios | The Punch