Justice Minister Simon Power met wrongly convicted man Jaden Knight and his family at Parliament this morning. The other man, Phillip Johnston, wasn't present but was represented by family members.
Cabinet had approved $146,011 for Mr Johnston and $221,936 for Mr Knight, Mr Power said. Financial losses were assessed at close to $36,000 and $116,000 respectively.
The pair from Lower Hutt, near Wellington, were wrongly tried and convicted in 2004 for the arson of the Manawatu Hotel in Foxton. Both men spent 9-1/2 months in prison.
They had been sentenced to six years' jail, but were released after their convictions were quashed in June 2005.
Police apologised in March 2007.
Mr Power said the Crown had accepted that both men were innocent and apologised unreservedly/
"I am disturbed at the way the system treated Mr Johnston and Mr Knight," he said.
"The standards that New Zealanders expect of their justice system fell well short in this case."
Mr Knight's mother, Neroli Edwards, said today that a sense of relief had not yet sunk in because the "whole sorry saga" had gone on for more than seven years.
"After all, what we have sought all along is for someone to take ownership of a bad mistake, to recognise that bullying can take many forms, and to guard against this recurring to other innocent persons."
The Government had declared the episode closed the families were expected to "go away and be thankful for the recognition".
"Sorry, our door will always be ajar and the attack on our honesty and truthfulness may be forgiven, but will never be forgotten."
Mrs Edwards said the compensation had only come about because they asked for it, and it had never been proffered.
Both families had not been fully recompensed because most of the costs they incurred were ignored, as was the loss of salary the men endured before conviction.
"This offer that we have been obliged to accept therefore smacks of institutional bullying of the worst kind, and is contradictory to the tenets of Government."
Mrs Edwards said they were still deeply concerned that the detective in charge of the investigation had not admitted his error nor apologised.
She questioned whether those responsible for the arson would ever be put to justice.
"In the meantime two innocent men and their families have been put through hell."
Mrs Edwards called for the establishment of a criminal cases review commission to allow innocent people who were wrongly convicted to get justice.
Mr Johnston's mother, Darrel Arcus, described the "rough time" the men had been through over more than seven years.
"On his release, we picked him up from the Manawatu Prison and all could say was 'smell the fresh air', 'listen to the cars', 'look at the street lights', which we take for granted."
Mrs Arcus said New Zealand had "many wonderful police officers" but the men "never got one of them".
"We got the bad apple and he's still in the police force," she said.
"I never thought I would see one of my children go to prison as they were pretty good kids."
Mrs Arcus said they had to get on with their lives and try to put the saga behind them, "but that's easier said than done".
