Man convicted of cop killing denied parole

Carlos Namana has been serving a life sentence for the murder of Constable Murray Stretch at Mangakino in the South Waikato. Photo / Supplied

A man who beat a police officer to death has been denied parole in his first hearing since he was jailed in 1999.

Carlos Namana has been serving a life sentence for the murder of Constable Murray Stretch at Mangakino in the South Waikato.

The homicide occurred after Constable Stretch attended a burglary at a local dairy, during which he was attack and repeatedly stomped on the head by Namana.

Namana did not seek parole and did not appear at the hearing on May 26, as he wanted to complete a drug and alcohol treatment programme he was due to finish in October first.

During his time in prison, he tested positive for drugs three times, with the last incident happening in 2011.

A psychologist report recommended that Namana complete the Special Treatment Unit Rehabilitation programme, an intensive nine to 12 month programme for serious offenders.

Namana had been housed in the internal self care unit, where he had been helping to train disability dogs.

However, the board found that Namana still had further work to do in addressing his violent offending.

"He clearly has considerable work to get on with to mitigate his assessed high risk of violent re-offending and moderate risk of general recidivism.

"He also needs to formulate a robust safety and release plan and demonstrate, over time and in a variety of situations, that he can put into practice the lessons learned in the programmes.

"Until he does so he will continue to pose an undue risk to the safety of the community."

Parole was denied.