Prisoner labelled too dangerous to let out 'bottles' man while on parole

Stan Gilmour's lawyer says he ran up against an agenda to have young offenders freed as quickly as possible.

A prisoner who a probation officer tried to warn was too dangerous to release will spend his full sentence behind bars after bottling a man while on parole.

Rere Topou Pumipi was released in July 2014 but was recalled to prison nine months later after assaulting two people and has now been ordered to serve his full sentence.

Events around the 24-year-old's initial release has sparked court action by a probation officer against his employer.

Probation officer Stan Gilmour had warned in a Parole Assessment Report that Pumipi posed an undue risk but his warnings were part of a chunk of the report removed by the Corrections Department without Gilmour's knowledge.

The board denied Pumipi parole at his first appearance but released him six months later. He was recalled after the most recent assaults.

Justice Rebecca Ellis dismissed Gilmour's application in April but Gilmour has filed notice of appeal.

He now seeks a declaration that statutory reports such as parole assessments by probation officers include whether an offender might pose an undue risk to public safety.

He claims that the judge made errors in interpreting provisions of the law, Corrections' mandatory practise standards and case circumstances which together had wrongly influenced her approach.

Gilmour claims that relevant risk information, including from CYF and the police, was denied to the Board, contrary to the judge's conclusion that the board had all the information before it.

Pumipi is serving four years and three months for what the Parole Board described in its latest report as "serious and gratuitous violence".

In 2007 he stuck a knife in a victim's ear causing severe injury. In 2012 he attacked a man with a hammer, causing life-threatening injuries.

Parole was declined last month when Pumipi came up for consideration for the first time since his recall. Pumipi chose not to attend the hearing, refused to be interviewed for a psychological report and was not interested in doing any programmes.

"Given Mr Pumipi's attitude we see little purpose in bringing him back prior to his sentence end date," the report by panel convener Judge David Mather said.

Pumipi's sentence ends in March. Special conditions will require that for six months after release he live at a specified address, satisfactorily complete any programme required by his probation officer and not use alcohol or illicit drugs.

If ignored, Corrections could lay charges.

Given Mr Pumipi's attitude we see little purpose in bringing him back prior to his sentence end date.

Judge David Mather

Gilmour was involved in preparing Pumipi's Parole Assessment Report but due to a disagreement about its content, his report was effectively overwritten, with 15 paragraphs outlining factors relating to risk and public safety deleted.

Corrections denied the report was sanitised. It was said in the Wellington High Court in March that it contained much the same information via the inclusion of Pumipi's sentencing notes, the police caption summary and other material.

Gilmour's lawyer, Warren Templeton, said that the allocated probation officer had a "special relationship" by law with the board and, as the only person who went into the field, was able to provide an up-to-date risk assessment.

His client had run up against an agenda to see young offenders released into the community as soon as possible, Templeton said.

The department denied bias and noted that it was desirable that prisoners be released at the earliest appropriate time.

At the hearing Justice Ellis said that there seemed to be some confusion in the statutes between the responsibilities of probation officers and the Department of Corrections but she struggled with the argument that a probation officer could speak with a voice independent of the department.

The appeal is scheduled for February.

Dateline:

• October 2013: Gilmour allocated to do the probation section of a parole assessment report on Pumipi.
• December 2013: Report completed and signed off. Gilmour refused to make changes as it had been finalised and quality checked.
• January 2014: Pumipi appears before Parole Board; told he needs to make progress before being considered for release.
• February 2014: Gilmour discovered that the report, which bears his name, had been extensively changed, including the deletion of 15 paragraphs regarding safety and risk. He complains.
• July 2014: Pumipi released on parole.
• February 2015: Pumipi disappears from address he is required to live at, assaults two people. Dissatisfied with the progress of his complaints, Gilmour sues Corrections.
• April 2015: Pumipi located and recalled to serve sentence of four years and three months for "serious and gratuitous violence". High Court dismisses Gilmour's application.
• July 2016: Gilmour files notice of appeal, citing errors by the judge.
• November 2016: Parole declined, Pumipi ordered to serve full sentence.
• March 2017: Pumipi's sentence will end and he must be released.