Asher Emanuel, "The Valley: Crime and Punishment in a New Zealand City" (Bridget Williams Books, 2026)

There were two days to Christmas and Lewis felt like everything was spinning out of control. He wondered what he would say to the judge this time. His client, Rikihana, was already on multiple shoplifting charges. What’s a few more? Lewis thought. These supermarkets were still making a killing.

It’s late 2020. Rikihana Wallace, a prolific shoplifter of no fixed abode, is back in prison with little chance of bail. Nathan Morley, unemployed, is facing burglary charges and hoping his other, as yet undetected, offences don’t catch up with him. Lewis Skerrett, their overstretched legal aid lawyer, is trying to do right by them both.

The culmination of over two years of field research and hundreds of hours of interviews, The Valley: Crime and Punishment in a New Zealand City (Bridget Williams Books, 2026) follows these three Hutt Valley men through courtrooms, prison, hospital, rehab, boarding houses and welfare offices. Told largely in verbatim dialogue, this up-close and personal account brings the realities of the New Zealand criminal justice system to life through the voices of those who experience it first-hand.

Watch the book trailer here 

Asher Emanuel is a writer and lawyer based in Wellington. His exposure to the criminal justice system began when he was a judges’ clerk at the Wellington High Court after graduating from law school in 2015. He later worked as an investigator for the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security and, as a lawyer, has assisted several government inquiries. His writing on justice and policy issues has appeared in The Spinoff, the New Zealand Herald, and specialist publications, and he is a former editor of Policy.nz, an election policy website. He began work on his first book, The Valley, in 2018 supported by grants from the Michael & Suzanne Borrin Foundation. Asher now works as a civil legal aid lawyer focusing on public law and human rights cases. He is a longstanding member of the executive of the Aotearoa Legal Workers’ Union. Asher grew up in Auckland before moving to Wellington where he studied law and English literature.

Ed Amon has a Master of Indigenous Studies and is a PhD Candidate at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. He is a writer and a Stand-up Comedian. His main interests are indigenous studies, politics, history, and cricket. Follow him on twitter @edamoned or email him at edamonnz@gmail.com

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