KEY POINTS:
The Corrections Department has been criticised after it claimed its handling of convicted murderer Graeme Burton's parole was appropriate.
Less than a week after father of two Karl Kuchenbecker was allegedly fatally shot by Burton, the department defended its handling of the case, insisting staff had followed correct
procedures.
The Herald revealed yesterday that Burton first breached his strict parole conditions on December 5 when he telephoned his probation officer instead of turning up in person for a weekly meeting - a failure which earned him a formal warning.
He failed to either call or appear on December 12, and it took until December 19 for Corrections to lodge a complaint over Burton's parole breach. A warrant for his arrest was issued on December 22 and Burton's recall to prison was ordered on December 29.
Corrections yesterday said the Burton case had followed correct procedures as a probation officer was expected to take breach action within one week.
However, National Justice spokesman Simon Power said Corrections needed to explain why it did not act to recall Burton long before then.
Mr Power said: "I would have thought, given this individual's history and particularly his propensity to elude the authorities, that they would have taken immediate action to recall on December 5. This is not a run of the mill case of parole. The question is why the Probation Service allowed him to get to December 22 before action was taken, when it was clear they had provisions under the [parole] act to act on December 5."
Police yesterday continued to investigate Burton's movements during his time on the run.
Wellington District Commander, Superintendent Pieri Munro, said police had been seeking Burton since the warrant was issued for his arrest but said ongoing inquiries meant he could not elaborate further.
Sensible Sentencing Trust spokesman Garth McVicar said there was no reason for Corrections not seeking an immediate arrest warrant for Burton.
"Parole is granted on certain conditions and if any of those conditions are breached the offender's feet shouldn't touch the ground again," Mr McVicar said.
Corrections probation and offender service acting general manager Tracy Mellor said the department's preliminary review of the Burton case showed that action was taken in a "timely and appropriate way".
Probation officers were expected to investigate and assess the reasons given for any failure to report before taking formal action, and standard practice - issuing a formal warning - was followed.
Mr Power said Corrections Minister Damien O'Connor needed to clarify why officials didn't exercise a right of recall at Burton's first breach of his parole conditions.
