Paroled killer's lavish new life

New Zealand's youngest convicted killer, Bailey Kurariki. Photo / Janna Dixon

He's had his first birthday cake, been showered with expensive gifts and is texting for the first time.

After six and-a-half years inside, Bailey Kurariki - the country's youngest convicted killer - is now enjoying the taste of freedom and the benefits that go with it.

Kurariki might be on home detention, but he isn't missing out on much.

Since being released a fortnight ago the 19-year-old baby-faced killer has had KFC, Burger King and pizza delivered most nights to the secret Auckland address where he's staying.

At his birthday party on the day he was released, he was presented with gifts including a $180 pair of shoes, a stereo and a PlayStation console.

For Rita Croskery, the mother of Kurariki's victim, it's a difficult pill to swallow.

"What this boy needs is hard work and discipline, not to be handed things on a plate. How is that going to teach him anything?

"It's just so stupid of them to do this. Let him go out to work and earn the money and then buy these things himself."

Kurariki was only 13 when he went inside after being convicted of manslaughter for the death of Michael Choy in 2001.

He was part of a group of young people who beat the pizza delivery man to death with a baseball bat.

Kurariki's mother Lorraine West told the Herald on Sunday her son was now making up for "all that stuff he hasn't tasted for ages".

He was learning how to text because until now he had never owned a cellphone. And he was learning to deal with another piece of hardware - an electronic ankle bracelet.

"He can walk around the section but he can't go anywhere past it because the machine will go off," says West.

She won't reveal where he is living but says it's with one of his sisters and their father, Bailey snr, who nearly died after a quadruple by-pass in March.

"It's Bailey jnr's turn to look after his dad now because he [Bailey snr] has been through hell and back," she says. Kurariki jnr cooks for and showers his father, says West.

Despite his new freedoms, West says boredom is setting in for her son who wants to be allowed to find a job.

"He loves mowing the lawns because he is bored and wants something to do."