Councils right to question parolee placement

Stewart Murray Wilson, also known as the Beast of Blenheim, heads out of the self-care units at Whanganui Prison to do some gardening. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Local authorities have a legitimate right to be concerned about sex offenders being paroled in their district, even though they have no say in where such people live.

That was the opinion of Justice Ron Young in his decision on the Wanganui District Council's application for a judicial review of the decision to parole serial sex offender Stewart Murray Wilson to live in Wanganui.

Justice Young's full decision was released yesterday after a hearing in the High Court in Wellington last week.

Despite rejecting the council's application for a judicial review, Justice Young acknowledged its interest in the Wilson case.

"They cannot be dismissed as busybody litigants, those with no interest in the outcome," he said.

"Local authority challenges by way of review will not have a say in where a parolee may live but given their public interest I consider they should be entitled to challenge the lawfulness of a [Parole] Board decision."

Justice Young said he thought most local authorities would object to a recidivist sex offender such as Wilson in their territory.

But under the law, such offenders, who are entitled to be released from prison, must live somewhere, he said.

"Thus, Parliament has given the Parole Board the task of deciding on parole and release conditions without the input of such public bodies but with a carefully prescribed set of guiding principles and conditions."

The council had applied for a judicial review on the grounds that the Parole Board considered the rights of Wilson's victims over the rights of the Wanganui community, but this was rejected by Justice Young.

"The evidence establishes both [victim protection and community safety] were taken into account with primacy given to community safety, including the safety of victims, by the [Parole] Board."

Wanganui Mayor Annette Main said although she was disappointed in Justice Young's rejection of the council's application, his decision was confirmation that the council did the right thing in challenging the Parole Board's decision.

"Our valid role has been acknowledged, in challenging the lawfulness of decisions such as the one made by the Corrections Department and the Parole Board, in regard to Stewart Murray Wilson's release, when the facts and decision-making process were made available to us."

Ms Main said the council would seek legal advice on whether there were grounds to appeal against Justice Young's dismissal of the case.

"A decision on the likelihood of an appeal proceeding has yet to be made by the council."

Councillors will meet today to form a plan to lobby the government over retrospective legislation.

"Legislation changes are now required urgently to ensure that other communities across New Zealand are not placed in the situation we were," Ms Main said.

Wilson arrived in Wanganui last week, and is living in a self-care unit on the grounds of Whanganui Prison.