The Sunday Star-Times (Auckland)
REVELL Fleur PURDY Kim
TAFFY Hotene was ordered to live in an Auckland city drugs and alcohol
rehabilitation house for two years as part of his parole conditions.
He ran away within two weeks, apparently with the knowledge of the
Corrections Department.
Five weeks later he murdered Kylie Jones.
The Sunday Star-Times has obtained documents on Hotene including his
parole conditions. The Corrections Department refuses to comment on
its role in the saga, citing Hotene's privacy and his pending
sentencing. However, his parole papers show Hotene had to meet five
special conditions following his release from jail on April 16. These
included living at the Ponsonby-based Ngati Arohanui Trust for two
years - taking part in its programmes - or at an address approved by
his probation officer. The head of the trust, Betty Wark, says Hotene
told his probation officer he didn't like the trust's drugs programme,
Narconon Aotearoa. It was too strict.
She says he and another man ran away for a night. He turned up in
Otara the next day where he checked in with the Probation Service on
time. After Hotene ran away, Wark heard from his sister that he was
going to live with her and Corrections approved.
Wark had some confidence that going to his sister might help Hotene
but she was angry he was not reprimanded for breaching parole by
running away. Wark confronted his probation officer, saying it was
"not on" - he was obviously not complying with the rules of the
programme.
"I didn't think he should go just as yet because he'd done nothing to
stabilise himself." Wark understands the officer has subsequently been
spoken to. The officer refused to comment.
"A person will probably find every way to get out of something they
don't like, but the rules are the rules," says Wark. "I said I won't
stand for that sort of behaviour and he should be returned to prison
for that (running away). I believe his sister really wanted to help
him and that going to her may have helped him but obviously in the end
it didn't."
Hotene's other special parole conditions were:
* Making an appointment with a psychologist within 72 hours of his
release.
* Undertaking other treatment and counselling as directed by his
probation officer.
* Completing an assessment for the Corrections Department straight
thinking programme.
* A non-association clause with his previous victims.
No one is saying how many of these conditions Hotene met. Corrections
Minister Matt Robson has ordered an internal inquiry.
Why was Hotene released in the first place? He appeared before the
Parole Board in January. With him was Dan Davis, who oversees the
Legionnaires Academy, a privately run boot camp for Maori offenders in
south Auckland. Hotene was part of the academy in the early '90s.
Because he had served two-thirds of his 12-year sentence, the board
said it was forced, under Section 99 of The Criminal Justice Act, to
release him.
"People somehow think that we let him out," said board member Dr David
Chaplow. "The law let him out. We've always been unhappy with Section
99. We had a meeting about it three weeks ago and his name came up . .
. We didn't talk specifically about him but we did talk about the
inadequacy of the Section 99 legislation." The board wants the
automatic release clause removed. It wants the onus put back on the
prisoner to prove he has mended his ways.
"People with determined sentences . . . it doesn't matter how bad they
look, you've got to let them go. Now that's a political issue, it's
got nothing to do with us. Who do you blame for the law? And what sort
of blame should be placed on Hotene? The first fall guy has to be
Hotene."
Robson says the actions of everybody involved are under scrutiny. "If
there is individual culpability I have issued an instruction I want to
know . . . but at the same time I am not predetermining it by saying I
want a scapegoat."
Law professor Warren Young is looking at the Parole Board, how it is
set up and its decision making as part of the government's review of
sentencing options.
Last year, the board considered 144 Section 99 cases. Ninety-nine were
approved; 44 "postponed for further consideration" and one was
labelled miscellaneous, says the board's annual report. It does not go
into details.
Chaplow concedes the board can hold prisoners on a Section 105
detention. This means there are strong fears the prisoner will commit
a specified offence upon release. They can be kept behind bars for
their full term.
But these applications are rare. The board considered seven in 1999. A
Section 105 was never considered for Hotene. He was ineligible because
he was sentenced in 1992 - a year before Section 105 became law.
Senior lecturer in Sociology at Canterbury University, Dr Greg
Newbold, said the court would now be looking at a long non-parole
period for Hotene.
"The one thing I think that needs to be done is that post-release
conditions need to be enforced by corrections authorities and
apparently in the case of Hotene they weren't. If his parole
conditions had been enforced Kylie Jones might be alive."
Will the Parole Board use more 105s? Chaplow: "We will look at
anything the department (of Corrections) puts before us and I think
that the department may well consider more 105s."
The Parole Board has made serious errors in the past. Board chairman
Justice Heron had to apologise to victims of Peter Howse after the sex
offender and murderer was paroled in August 1995 and reverted to
serious offending. He was recalled to serve the rest of his sentence
and won't be eligible for parole for another decade.
Turoa Hapi was jailed for four years for violating two young sisters -
after he was paroled he raped and stabbed a 78-year-old woman.
Christchurch woman Nan Withers was bashed by Harry Houkamau, also on
parole. That prompted her son Norm to push for the get-tough justice
referendum at last year's election.
Paul Dally, who raped, tortured and finally killed Lower Hutt
schoolgirl Karla Cardno 11 years ago is expected to face the board
next month. Cardno's stepfather Mark Middleton has vowed to kill him
when he is released. Dally and Hotene became friends in Paremoremo
prison.
Chaplow says the board mostly gets it right but figures show 49.3% of
paroled prisoners reoffend within three years. Chaplow says the rate
is much higher for people who are finally released having not been
paroled.
An intriguing twist to the Hotene case is the presence of Davis at the
parole hearing.
Davis was under the impression from the board that Hotene would live
with him on his release. But Hotene never arrived - it is understood
either the Parole Board or Corrections Department believed Wark's unit
was the better place for Hotene. Hotene may have had a say himself -
he applied for Wark's unit from prison.
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August 13, 2000
Murder after 51 days on parole
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