Phillip John Smith is allegedly posing as a lawyer in prison. Photo / Dean Purcell
Phillip John Smith is allegedly posing as a lawyer in prison. Photo / Dean Purcell
Notorious killer and runaway prisoner Phillip John Smith has allegedly been acting as a lawyer behind bars and managed to convince a police officer he was one, the Herald understands.
It is illegal for someone to describe themselves as a lawyer if they do not hold a current practising certificate. The Law Society register does not list Smith as a lawyer.
Asked for comment on the allegations, a police spokesperson told the Herald: “We can confirm we are in the early stages of making inquiries following complaints from members of the public regarding an inmate at Rimutaka. As an investigation is ongoing and for privacy reasons we are unable to comment further.”
George Massingham, Acting Deputy Commissioner Men’s Prisons, would not comment when asked about Smith allegedly acting as a lawyer and referred the Herald to the police.
Phillip John Smith was denied parole at his 14th appearance. Photo / Nick Reed
This week, Smith appeared before the Parole Board for the 14th time. The hearing disclosed that police were investigating complaints made by members of the public. Details of the investigation were not revealed at the hearing.
Last month, Smith was caught with two cellphones in his cell, which is an offence under the Corrections Act, the board heard.
The discovery of contraband has led to Smith’s security classification being raised from low-medium to high.
A second recent misconduct was when Smith lost his prison privileges for hiding a cigarette lighter in a pack of porridge, the board heard.
Smith was declined parole, with convenor Neville Trendle saying there was still a lot of ground for him to make up to establish trust and confidence that he would stick to the rules in the community.
Smith would appear before the board again in 12 months.
The parole hearing was the first since Smith was also sentenced to two years’ imprisonment last year for tax fraud.
After registering multiple companies, Smith dishonestly filed GST returns, an income tax return and claimed Covid-19 business support relief. He also has previous fraud convictions involving IRD from 2006 and 2010.
Phillip John Smith was sentenced to two years' imprisonment last year for tax fraud. Photo / Dean Purcell
On the contraband that Corrections says it found in Smith’s cell, Massingham said: “Last month, Rimutaka Prison staff carried out a targeted search of a prisoner’s cell and found two cell phones and other items including accessories and a lighter, which were immediately seized. The phones have been securely stored as evidence and Corrections has provided information to Police about their seizure.
“The phones were found using new cell phone scanner technology, which we recently introduced to strengthen our ability to detect the unlawful possession and use of cell phones within prisons.
“Prisoners will often go to extreme lengths to continue offending while in prison. Our staff manage around 9600 prisoners, who are some of New Zealand’s most dangerous people and can be highly manipulative.”
Smith received a life sentence in 1996 for murdering a man whose son he was molesting. The family lived in the Wairarapa and fled to Wellington to escape but he tracked them down.
Phillip John Smith received a life sentence in 1996 for murdering a man whose son he molested. Photo / Supplied
The killer and child sex offender had to serve at least 13 years in prison before he was eligible for parole.
In 2014, the killer and child sex offender nearly pulled off an audacious escape when he fled to South America while on temporary release from jail. Nine hours after walking out of Spring Hill prison on temporary release, he boarded a flight to Chile. Although he was a convicted murderer, he passed through airport security without a hitch, declaring $10,000 as spending money.
It took four days before law enforcement agencies even realised he was out of the country. Smith might have vanished for good - but he booked himself into an English- speaking international hostel in Rio de Janeiro.
These included challenges of Corrections’ refusal to let him sport a hairpiece in prison, to wear a necklace, to have a specific stereo, or to allow men detained at a special prison unit for child sex offenders to have sex with one another.
Phillip John Smith has taken several cases against the Department of Corrections Photo / Supplied
In May this year, he lost the legal battle over whether preventing the inmates from having sex is a breach of human rights.
In another recent case, Smith unsuccessfully filed a court action against the Parole Board.
A High Court decision released earlier this year stated Smith alleged the board “misinterpreted” provisions of the Parole Act 2002 when considering his eligibility for release on parole.
Carolyne Meng-Yee is an Auckland- based investigative journalist. She worked for the Herald on Sunday in 2007-2011 and rejoined the Herald in 2016. She was previously a commissioner at TVNZ and an award-winning current affairs producer for 60 Minutes, 20/20 and Sunday.
