KEY POINTS:
A ministerial inquiry has been launched into the case of a disqualified driver who caused a fatal car accident last year while on parole.
The driver, Jonathon Allan Barclay, 26, was a recidivist offender who had evaded prison by using his new identity under the police witness protection programme to be treated as a first-time offender.
Nelson MP Nick Smith called for an independent inquiry in June, after Barclay was jailed for 5 1/2 years for the manslaughter of Debbie Ashton in December.
Miss Ashton, 20, of Hope, near Nelson, died in hospital after Barclay's speeding car crossed the centre line on Paton Rd, Hope and crashed into her vehicle.
Dr Smith said the justice system had blood on its hands for allowing Barclay to remain free after being repeatedly caught offending while on bail.
There was a "dangerous parallel" with the case of Graeme Burton who murdered a man while on parole, he said.
The Nelson Mail reported today an inquiry would be held into the incident.
The terms of reference for the inquiry, released yesterday, said Barclay was relocated to Nelson in May 2006 under the police witness protection programme and given a new identity.
In November, a month before the fatal crash, Barclay was convicted of driving with excess breath alcohol in the Nelson District Court. He was fined and disqualified from driving.
He failed to tell the police or the court his previous identity, and was dealt with as a first offender.
However, a month earlier, he had been disqualified from driving for 18 months and warned he would go to jail for further driving offences, after disclosing his previous name and his involvement with the witness protection programme.
Police and State Services minister Annette King commissioned the inquiry into the issues raised by the events leading to Miss Ashton's death - particularly the implications for the justice system when offenders are placed on the witness protection programme.
Dr Smith said a flaw in the National Intelligence Application, which replaced the Wanganui computer in 2005, had allowed protected witnesses, including Barclay, to hide previous convictions.
Ms King's office has said it hopes the inquiry, which Kristy McDonald, QC, has been commissioned to conduct, will be completed by Christmas.
- NZPA
