Sentencing laws opposed

Pilbara-based lawyer Kerrigan Mercer has spoken out against new mandatory sentencing laws being debated in State Parliament.

The amended laws seek to impose mandatory two-year jail terms on aggravated burglary offenders who commit "three strikes".

The amendments also seek to make it easier to apply the three strikes penalty by counting each offence committed on the same day as one strike.

Under current laws, offenders can only receive one strike for each court appearance they make.

This could mean offenders who commit offences over multiple days could end up with two-year jail terms after their first court appearance.

In addition, the proposed laws seek to impose mandatory minimum penalties of up to 15 years for people who commit serious crimes, such as rape and murder, during a home invasion.

Ms Mercer said the laws could have important repercussions for Hedland.

"When I was researching my move to the Pilbara I was aware petty crime was much higher in South Hedland than anywhere else in the Pilbara," she said.

Ms Mercer said she opposed mandatory sentences because they did not leave judges the discretion to take special circumstances into account.

She cited the example of a client who was under financial pressure to support his family, but caught his wife at a friend's house having an affair.

The man pushed his way into the house and hit his friend.

"I think if most people know about a specific case like that, they wouldn't think seven-and-a-half years is just, they would think it was very harsh," she said.

Aboriginal Legal Services WA director legal services Peter Collins has also said the laws could disproportionately affect indigenous people at a time when his group's Federal funding was being cut.

However, State Police Minister Liza Harvey said delivering the toughest penalties in Australia for home invasions was an election promise.

"These laws will protect the victims - the people who have had their homes broken into and been terrorised and attacked during a home invasion," she said.