KEY POINTS:
The family of murder victim Karl Kuchenbecker may be about to get the formal apology they have demanded, after Corrections Minister Damien O'Connor yesterday said he would meet them again.
Mr Kuchenbecker was murdered by Graeme Burton in early January. Burton, a convicted murderer, was on the run from authorities after breaching parole.
Corrections and Mr O'Connor have faced severe criticism over the decision to grant Burton parole and the management of that parole.
Mr O'Connor had resisted calls to publicly apologise to the Kuchenbecker family, but it was revealed in Parliament on Wednesday that he had already met the family privately and told them he was very sorry for what had happened.
However, that meeting predated the release of three reports into Burton's parole - reports the Kuchenbeckers have slated as a whitewash.
Yesterday Karl's father, Paul Kuchenbecker, said while Mr O'Connor had told him he was deeply concerned and had expressed deep regret, he did not feel he had received a proper apology.
"I feel it's not an official apology from the [Corrections] Department. It was from Damien O'Connor personally," he told Radio New Zealand.
"I just think it's good common courtesy for someone to say, 'Look, on behalf of the Justice Department we know we've done wrong; please accept our apology'... and having a meeting with [chief executive] Barry Matthews and the Minister of Corrections."
Mr O'Connor said he was responding to the wishes of the family by agreeing to a formal meeting.
"I have now initiated contact with the family and extended an invitation to meet them at any time," Mr O'Connor said.
Asked whether he would make a public apology, Mr O'Connor said he would not comment on what he might be prepared to say to the Kuchenbeckers.
"As I have said several times before regarding the situation, and I will say again now, I do not consider that the way the department managed Mr Burton to be good enough.
"Mistakes were made, and must be rectified. That is why myself and Barry Matthews have moved quickly to tighten up the way that probation is managed."
It was a torrid day for Mr O'Connor yesterday as Opposition MPs stepped up their attack. Following ongoing inquiries into corruption in Corrections and the decision to allow convicted sex offender John Clarke home detention, critics were handed fresh ammunition through news that more Rimutaka prison staff would be suspended after allegations they allowed a convicted rapist a conjugal visit.
"The prisoner had to be taken to hospital for medical reasons," Mr O'Connor said.
"The officers were given a very clear set of instructions on how the prisoner was to be supervised, including how to manage visits. It appears these instructions were not followed."
Justice Minister Mark Burton was also on the back foot in Parliament yesterday as National MP Gerry Brownlee asked how the Parole Board could possibly have decided it was appropriate to grant Burton parole.
Corrections In Crisis
August 2006: Liam Ashley is bashed to death in the back of a prison van while being driven to prison. A number of system failures led to him being placed in the van with George Baker, who was convicted for murder.
November: An independent investigation is launched into the "unhealthy culture" at Rimutaka Prison. Allegations were rife of contraband being brought in by prison staff, and prison management failing to follow up corruption allegations.
December: Convicted killer Graeme Burton breaks his parole conditions and kills Karl Kuchenbecker in January while on the run.
March 3: It is revealed that convicted rapist Peter McNamara was able to father a child by having his semen smuggled out from Rimutaka Prison.
Monday: Convicted rapist John Clarke, on home detention in Christchurch, gives his probation officers the slip. He turns himself in on Wednesday.
Tuesday: Two Rimutaka Corrections officers are suspended for allegedly smuggling contraband to inmates. Three more face suspension next week.
Yesterday: Four Rimutaka guards are suspended for allegedly allowing a convicted rapist conjugal visits while at Wellington Hospital.
