Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

As if our justice system wasn’t soft enough already, I see they’re now handing out further reductions in sentences if you had a tough childhood.  ‘Mongrel Mob members in lucrative drug ring get reduced prison time for horrific childhoods" read a headline yesterday. The story went on to say that, “Two Mongrel Mob members sitting near the top of a sophisticated drug ring were jailed after admitting their roles in the commercial-scale manufacture and supply of methamphetamine across the Waikato. The pair received hefty reductions in their prison sentences for admitting guilt and the "horrific" circumstances of their childhood, the trauma of which a judge said led to their gang affiliations and criminal offending later in life.”  So, let’s get this straight. These two Mongrel Mob gang members "oversaw the manufacture" and day to day dealing of meth, in "clandestine labs", were placed in the second-highest category of meth offending based on the quantity of drugs and yet, they got their sentences reduced, because