KEY POINTS:
A man known as the "Beast of Blenheim" has had his appeal to be released from prison rejected.
Stewart Murray Wilson, now 62, was jailed for 21 years in 1996 for rape, attempted rape, indecent assault, stupefying, bestiality and wilful ill-treatment of a child.
Representing himself via a video link from Christchurch he argued his case at the Court of Appeal in Wellington last week.
Wilson claimed he was being held unlawfully as, when time spent in remand was included, he had served two-thirds of his sentence and was due for release in December 2008.
However, the Corrections Department filed an application under the Parole Act for Wilson to remain in custody.
Wilson claimed the application was made too late as he should have been eligible for release in 2006. However, the court found he had erred in calculating his sentence as he mistakenly believed some of his offences fell outside the scope of the Act.
A psychiatric report drafted before Wilson's release application said he had denied his offending, had refused treatment while in prison and had made contradictory statements.
The Parole Board deemed Wilson at risk of re-offending and agreed to keep him locked up.
In a decision released today the court said Wilson had misunderstood his position and, "there is a crucial difference between parole eligibility and final release".
As Corrections had applied to extend his imprisonment past two-thirds of his sentence Wilson could potentially be kept behind bars until three months before his sentence expired in December 2015.
The Parole Board must review his sentence every six months with the next hearing set for June.
- NZPA
