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A war of words that has erupted between the Corrections Department and police over the handling of Graeme Burton's parole breach is being seen as academic.
They have been pointing the finger at each other over the gap of several weeks between Burton, a convicted murderer and prison escaper, breaching his parole conditions and a warrant being sought for his arrest.
At the weekend, unnamed sources were reported as saying senior police had called for Burton's recall from parole five weeks before he allegedly went on a crime spree.
However, Corrections yesterday defended itself, and chief executive Barry Matthews said the department acted against Burton as soon as it was legally able.
Mr Matthews also questioned why police did not act on an arrest warrant for Burton issued weeks prior to his allegedly murdering Wainuiomata man Karl Kuchenbecker and committing 22 other crimes, and why police did not provide Corrections with a sworn affidavit which could have accelerated efforts to return Burton behind bars.
Politicians and law-and-order lobbyists have asked why greater efforts were not made to recall Burton to prison before his alleged crime spree, and several inquiries into the case are now under way.
Mr Matthews said he doubted Burton would have come forward if the wheels of justice had moved faster.
"I think the reality was that by the time that, in fact, he hadn't reported, he was probably already aware that the police were chasing after him. I think it's a bit academic," he said.
"To suggest that because someone is on parole as soon as they breach some particular term and condition and we take action that it is going to prevent them from doing any more harm is just unrealistic."
Mr Matthews said he would meet Police Commissioner Howard Broad today to set out his concerns at "unjustified" police statements critical of Corrections, given the department had complied with the law.
Mr Matthews said: "You've got to have a reasonable case to present to the Parole Board [to recall a prisoner].
"I would think for the Parole Board to actually put someone back in prison for the rest of their life they would want to ensure the person was actually not making an effort to meet their parole requirements, rather than that they had actually failed on a particular occasion or occasions [to report]."
Police were yesterday reluctant to add fuel to the controversy. Wellington District crime manager Detective Inspector Harry Quinn said from time to time police shared information with other government agencies about criminals and discussing that in the public arena acted against the purpose for which the information was shared.
The Sensible Sentencing Trust will today meet the family of Mr Kuchenbecker, shot on January 6 in the hills above Lower Hutt, to discuss a possible law suit against Corrections.
The trust helped launch a similar suit on behalf of the families of victims of the 2001 Mt Wellington RSA shooting and spokesman Garth McVicar said it was hard for individual families to launch such cases and the trust would do all it could to help.
"We don't have to go through the hard yards because a lot of that work has been done for us. We will explain all that to Paul [Karl Kuchenbecker's father], and if that's the way they wish to go then we can certainly give them assistance."
