Peter Niko is still unable to explain to Parole Board why he raped pensioner in Porirua

Peter Niko in court when he pleaded guilty to raping a 65-year-old woman in Porirua. Photo / Solbin Kang

• Peter Niko was jailed for 11 years and six months after forcing in his way into a pensioner’s home and raping her in 2016.
• The woman feared she would die during the ordeal and later told him: “You took a piece of me.”
• He went before Parole Board for the second time earlier this year. Today the board has released its decision.

It’s been nearly nine years but Peter Niko still can’t really explain why he tricked his way into a 65-year-old woman’s home before he bound, gagged and raped her.

It was offending that his sentencing judge said was almost as bad as if Niko had simply killed his victim following the prolonged attack in her Porirua home in the early morning of June 17, 2016.

“This was exceptionally cruel offending,” Justice Robert Dobson said at the time.

“After four hours of very serious and violent attacks on her, committed after you tricked your way into her home, you have put her into a prison of her own for the rest of her life.”

Niko had knocked on the woman’s door and claimed he was looking for his daughter before he forced his way inside and bound and gagged his victim before sexually assaulting her for roughly four hours.

He threatened to “cut her into pieces” and before he left told the woman to wash herself and bed sheets before wiping doorknobs clean in an attempt to remove his fingerprints from the scene.

“Your deceit and lies were used to get into my home. You overpowered me, gagged and bound me, and I genuinely thought I was going to die,” the woman said at his sentencing in 2016.

“You took a piece of me. You left an imprint not only on me but on my family.”

Justice Dobson sentenced Niko to 11 years and six months in prison with a minimum non-parole period of seven years and seven months after Niko pleaded guilty to a raft of charges including seven of sexual violation, making the woman unconscious with the intent to commit rape and threatening to kill.

Niko became eligible for parole in January 2024 and appeared before the New Zealand Parole Board for a second time in January.

In a decision released today, Niko has been denied parole again, with the board noting that he “did not really find himself able to explain the reasons for his offending”.

For the first time, Niko’s prior offending was also revealed by the board and it noted he was imprisoned in 2005 for six months for two counts of sexual misbehaviour with a female between 12 and 16 years old. Niko would have been in his late 20s or early 30s at that time.

The board said that while Niko was assessed as being a low-security risk, he had a moderate risk of abusing substances, a medium risk of reoffending and a high risk of causing harm to others.

Niko wasn’t seeking early release and the board will see him again later this year. However, his full sentence will expire in December 2027.

Jeremy Wilkinson is an Open Justice reporter based in Manawatū covering courts and justice issues with an interest in tribunals. He has been a journalist for nearly a decade and has worked for NZME since 2022.