Killer walks free, and meth-fuelled psychosis gets a pass

Is this justice?

The justice system has sent a loud and disturbing message this week: if you’re a long time meth user and kill someone, you might just get away with it.

Chalton Lawson, the man who brutally killed Hastings father Patrick Reweti, was found not guilty of murder. Not because he did not do it, but because he was deemed insane at the time, the result of long-term methamphetamine use.

A man who’s spent his life puffing on the glass barbecue, stabs some fulla in the neck, drives the body to an orchard, and burns it with the victim’s remains inside. Court documents say Reweti was probably already dead when the car was torched. The cause of death was the stab wound.

The killer walks out of court without a murder conviction.

The court accepted that Lawson was in a psychotic state brought on by years of meth use. On that basis, the jury found him not guilty of murder on the grounds of insanity. He will now be detained in a secure mental health facility, but not prison. Is that justice?

Reweti’s whānau certainly do not think so. Nor should the public. A line has been crossed here, and it risks setting a deeply troubling precedent. We are now in dangerous territory where self-inflicted drug-induced psychosis is enough to wipe away the most serious charge in our legal system. The law currently treats long-term drug use as a valid pathway to a not guilty verdict, even when the consequences are fatal.

There is no question that addiction can devastate lives and lead to mental health issues. But there is also personal choice involved. Lawson chose meth. He chose violence. Now, somehow, the system has absolved him of responsibility for that fatal decision. The real cost is being paid by victims’ families, and by the public who are being told that accountability in our justice system is optional.

The courts have seen a rise in meth-related psychosis being used as a defence in violent crime. While each case is different, there must be a clear line between involuntary mental illness and the effects of self-destructive, illegal behaviour.

Because if not, what is stopping others from following the same path?

New Zealanders have a right to expect that our legal system upholds both justice and public safety. When someone dies in horrific circumstances, and the person responsible avoids a murder conviction, that principle has failed.

Patrick Reweti’s family deserves answers. More importantly, they deserve a justice system that works for victims, not one that excuses killers. It is time to revisit how we handle drug-induced psychosis in the courts. If taking meth is all it takes to be found not guilty, then we have got a much bigger problem on our hands

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