Family upset at release timing

Natalie Fenton.

The timing of a teenage murderer's release from prison could be reviewed if it clashes with the anniversary of her victim's death.

After being locked up for more than half of her life, the Parole Board, in a decision released this week, has decided Natalie Fenton will be released from prison in April.

She and two other teenagers, sister Katrina Fenton and Daniella Bowman, were found guilty of murdering South Auckland man Raymond Mullins on April 1, 1999.

Following an argument over money, Fenton stabbed him with a steak knife.

After her release she'll be subject to strict parole conditions, including an overnight curfew and a ban from central and West Auckland and Rotorua, where members of Mr Mullins' family, who are registered as victims with the Parole Board, live.

Mr Mullins' daughter Leigh-Anne Mullins said yesterday the family was upset at the timing of the release and their understanding Fenton was to live in South Auckland, where family members who are not registered victims reside.

A Parole Board spokesman said: "The release is not near any of the registered victims."

The board might be prepared to look at the release date if it clashed with the anniversary of Mr Mullins' death.

Based on the reports it had, it was not aware of the offending date, the spokesman said.

Miss Mullins said she would normally take time out to gather herself as April 1 approached.

"There are lots of negatives from it but I try to remember the good times as I was growing up," she said.

"I lost him very young.

"He's missed out on my kids growing up, those sorts of milestones, my grandchildren, his great-grandchildren."

Katrina Fenton was released on parole in 2012, while Bowman remains in jail after she was recalled following her parole in 2014.

Miss Mullins said she and her family remained opposed to any of them being released and, in Natalie Fenton's case, would like it if she were at least further away.

She's not scared of Fenton, but Miss Mullins doesn't want a chance meeting to ever happen.

"I feel very strongly that I need to be a voice because my father's not here to defend himself. With those sexual allegations the defence lawyers used, he wasn't there to defend himself. They killed him for $500 to go to a 21st up north."

Fenton has a job and accommodation lined up and is banned from contacting Mr Mullins' family and the other two offenders.