KEY POINTS:
The strict conditions facing New Zealand's youngest convicted killer when he is released on home detention next month are cold comfort to the mother of his victim.
Bailey Junior Kurariki was 12 years old when he and five others took part in the baseball-bat killing of South Auckland pizza delivery man Michael Choy in September 2001.
A Parole Board decision on Kurariki issued yesterday revealed that he will be released under close monitoring on an undisclosed date next month.
The release will be four months before the end of his seven-year prison term for manslaughter.
Although his sentence does not end officially until September 16, under New Zealand law prisoners are eligible for parole and must appear before the board after serving one-third of their sentence.
Mr Choy's mother, Rita Croskery, told the Herald last night that although Kurariki's sentence was almost over, her struggle would continue.
Kurariki has been eligible for parole since 2003.
Every year - sometimes twice a year - Mrs Croskery has had to sit through the hearings, stating her case and reliving the nightmare of her son's murder as Kurariki is considered for freedom.
She has also attended the hearings of the other five offenders, at times appearing before the board once a month.
"It's soul-destroying," she said.
"It's ongoing from the time that they're sentenced - from the time they've done the dirty deed ... one after the other.
"There's just never been any let-up since my son was murdered."
Mrs Croskery said she would like the Parole Board abandoned and instead have judges impose conditions on prisoners being released, to avoid forcing victims' families through even more pain with the annual or six-monthly hearings.
She was pleased the board had granted her request that Kurariki be monitored electronically if released.
But she said the fact that he had been released before his sentence was complete was unfair.
She repeated earlier calls for New Zealand prisoners to serve their full terms before being considered for release.
Conditions of Kurariki's release on residential restrictions limit him to a specified address. He must have weekly counselling, psychologist's sessions and rehabilitation programmes and is not allowed to use alcohol or drugs or speak to the media.
The decision says Community Probation Services looked into the possibility of supervision 24 hours a day seven days a week but found there was no "legal mandate" or funding for it.
But the board imposed the strictest monitoring conditions for the longest time possible.
The Sensible Sentencing Trust's Garth McVicar said he had seen the toll the process had taken on Mrs Croskery and called for the abolition of the Parole Board for the sake of victims.
He said the only reason the board had imposed such strict terms on Kurariki was because of Mrs Croskery's fierce campaigning.
Kurariki will next appear before the Parole Board in July for a compliance hearing to assess his progress.
The board's authority over him will end six months after September 16, meaning he will be a free man in March next year.
RELEASE DEAL
* Kurariki's home detention conditions:
* A 24-hour curfew.
* Electronic anklet.
* Weekly counselling and treatment programmes.
* A Maori kaumatua to work alongside him.
* Must not contact a list of people whose names were withheld.
* No drugs, alcohol or contact with media.
