KEY POINTS:
Convicted pack-rapist Peter McNamara has been granted parole against the wishes of his victim after serving a third of his seven-year sentence for the 1989 crime.
McNamara was jailed in August 2005 for his part in the attack on a 20-year-old woman, alongside former police officers Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum.
The men lured the woman into a hut on the pretext of a lunch date with one of them. Once there she was bound, raped, forced to perform oral sex and violated.
McNamara has been told he will be freed in January, on parole but with special conditions including not contacting his victim and not giving interviews to anyone on his trial, sentence, conviction, appeal or parole.
The Parole Board said the victim of the crime was upset that McNamara should be released after serving a third of the imposed sentence.
In a written submission, she said: "(The judge) did not tell McNamara to go to jail for 2-1/2 years for what he'd done; he told him to go to jail for seven years".
She said the parole decision would vindicate him of a crime second only to murder.
The board said the critical issue in parole decisions was whether the release will pose a risk to public safety.
It had previously reversed an earlier decision to grant him home detention two years into his sentence after hearing the views of the victim.
This time it opted for parole, saying there was no merit in the release being to home detention.
The decision to grant McNamara parole raises the possibility that Shipton and Schollum could also be freed.
"The decision to release McNamara was not taken lightly - this panel has taken four weeks to consider the information, and reach a decision," said board chairman David Carruthers.
"The legislation also states that offenders must not be detained any longer than is consistent with the safety of the community, and that they must not be subject to release conditions that are more onerous or last longer than is consistent with the safety of the community."
In assessing undue risk to the community the board considered both the likelihood of further offending and the nature and seriousness of any likely subsequent offending.
McNamara fathered a child from prison by allegedly smuggling his sperm out to impregnate his partner, Joanne Percy, and then paid for prison escorts so he could attend the birth in January.
The board said it had learned of "the unusual circumstances of Mr McNamara's semen being taken from the prison".
"The semen issue has no bearing on the offender's risk to the public or upon any of the statutory considerations," the board said.
The board also said McNamara's role in the making of a false affidavit alleging inconsistent behaviour by the victim was unproven.
The case
In July 2005, Shipton, Schollum, McNamara and Tauranga fireman Warren Graham Hales were found all guilty of the pack-rape.
Schollum was sentenced to eight years for rape, four years for unlawful sexual connection and three years for unlawful detention, to be served concurrently.
Shipton was sentenced to 8-1/2 years for two counts of rape, three years for unlawful sexual connection and three years for unlawful detention, to be served concurrently.
McNamara got seven years for rape and three years for unlawful detention, concurrent.
Hales appealed, and was granted a retrial but instead pleaded guilty to abduction and got an 18-month jail sentence.
- NZHERALD STAFF
