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Missing the funeral of a relative or close friend could have devastating consequences for prisoners, says former Prison Fellowship director Kim Workman.
He was commenting on the Department of Corrections' decision not to release John Maeva snr for Tuesday's funeral of his son John who was killed in an execution-style shooting last month.
Family and friends protested outside Auckland Prison at Paremoremo at the weekend in an attempt to persuade the department to release John Maeva snr who is serving a sentence for manufacturing P.
Mr Workman said prisoners needed a lot of help to get over missing a funeral.
They blamed themselves because they knew if they had not been in prison, they would have been able to go, so there was a lot of guilt attached, he told Newstalk ZB.
Corrections must have a good reason for declining the request, he added.
John Maeva, 25, was gunned down outside his Papatoetoe home as he returned home in the early hours of August 31.
He was shot three times with a .22 calibre rifle, two to the rear of his head and neck area and the third to the left side of his torso.
Wayne James Bracken, a 31-year-old unemployed man, has appeared in Manukau District Court on a charge of murder.
He was remanded in custody until September 22.
- NZPA
