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A woman jailed for her part in the alleged kidnapping of a 7-year-old Hamilton boy has been released on home detention less than two months into her prison sentence.
Tania Thomason, 36, was jailed for 10 months in August along with partner Jeremy Daly for harbouring the boy and 69-year-old Dick Headley at their Matauri Bay home.
The boy at the centre of the acrimonious child custody dispute cannot be named for legal reasons.
However, his father is angry Thomason has been freed from prison so early into her sentence, saying the move was "barbaric" given the seriousness of the charges. "What sort of message does this send?," said Chris Jones.
"These were serious charges and I would have expected she would have been forced to complete her sentence in jail, not at home."
Daly was also released on home detention earlier this month. For five months the couple hid the boy and Headley, who has already been committed to trial on kidnapping charges, at their Matauri Bay home while police held a nationwide manhunt.
In its decision, the Parole Board said Thomason was "not likely to reoffend in the same way" and there appeared no reason why she and Daly couldn't serve home detention together.
