Under section 21(1) of the Parole Act 2002
Hearing: 22 September 2009 at (Withheld) Prison
Members of the Board:
Judge J E Macdonald
Ms S Baragwanath
Mr R Lewis
Mr Dale, you are serving a sentence of two years and four months’ imprisonment. This was for fraudulent offending. The circumstances of the offending were quite bizarre but there is no need to dwell on them. Your sentence commenced in September 2008 and you became eligible for parole on 27 March 2009. Your sentence ends in October 2010.
Parole was first considered by the Board on 12 March 2009. Parole was declined but the Board agreed to see you again in September, along with a psychological report. We now have that report, dated 4 September 2009. It reaches the conclusion that you pose a low risk of reoffending and that was one matter to take from it.
In all other respects you have behaved well in prison. You are currently on release to work and doing well as far as that is concerned. You have a low RoC*RoI of 0.037 and, of course, this is your first prison sentence. The other feature, I suppose, that we need to take into account is that after the original offending there were some five years or so in the community where you lived in a perfectly responsible way, even though your true identity was not necessarily known. You are supported here by (Names Withheld). You are represented by (Counsel Name Withheld).
We have considered all the written material before us and the other matters raised in the course of the hearing. We are satisfied that you would not be an undue risk if released on parole. We think further offending to be quite unlikely. On that basis, you will be released on parole on 28 September and you will be subject to the standard release conditions. We are also going to impose five special conditions. We are actually reverting to the four special conditions recommended in the earlier report in March. They are not overly onerous at all, and we are adding in a further condition about residence at (Address Withheld). The conditions will last until your sentence end date.
Special conditions are as follows:
1. You are to reside at (Address Withheld) and not to move from that address without the prior approval of a Probation Officer.
2. You are to undertake counselling with a Counsellor approved in writing by the Probation Officer and to undertake any other assessment, counselling or treatment recommended by the Counsellor to reduce risk of re-offending as directed by the Probation Officer
3. You are to undertake routine Alcohol and Drug audits administered by the Probation Officer and if require attend an assessment and complete any programmes/counselling/treatment as recommended to the satisfaction of and as directed by the Probation Officer.
4. You are to attend all appointments with Health Professionals as directed by the Probation Officer.
5. You are not to have contact or otherwise associate with the victim(s) of your offending, directly or indirectly, unless you have the prior written consent of your Probation Officer.
Judge J E Macdonald
Panel Convenor
You may apply for a review of the Board’s decision under section 67(1). The only grounds under which you may make an application for review are that the Board, in making its decision:
a) Failed to comply with procedures in the Parole Act 2002; or
b) Made an error of law; or
c) Failed to comply with Board policy resulting in unfairness to the offender; or
d) Based its decision on erroneous or irrelevant information that was material to the decision reached; or
e) Acted without jurisdiction.
To apply for a review you must write to the Board within 28 days of its decision stating which of the above ground(s) you consider to be relevant in your case and giving reasons why you believe that ground(s) applies. Reviews are considered on the papers only. There is no hearing in respect of your Review Application.