An order from a judge in Oamaru District Court to offer a defendant grief counselling left the probation service with little choice.
During the sentencing last week of a man, convicted of making photocopies of a prescription, who said he was affected by grief, Judge Joanna Maze ordered the probation service to make grief counselling available to the man.
A probation representative told Judge Maze in court it was something they were not funded to do, to which the judge replied that they would have to find a way to make it happen.
"I don’t really care what you’re funded for, if I make a decision you’re going to have to find some [way]."
A Department of Corrections spokesman this week reiterated that grief counselling was not a service it undertook with offenders, but said probation officers would work to manage the conditions set by the courts.
"If a specific type of programme or counselling is not undertaken by Corrections, our staff will work with other agencies, better suited to provide the type of support needed to ensure the directions made by the judge are met," he said.
"If there is a condition that is not manageable because a specific type of programme or counselling was not available for example, either through Corrections or another service provider in the community, the probation officer would make an application to the court to reconsider the condition."
The spokesman would not say how often judges ordered the department to do something it was not funded to do.
