Ewen Macdonald parole hearing confirmed

Ewen Macdonald, seen here during his trial in 2012, will be before the Parole Board next Monday. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Convicted livestock killer Ewen Macdonald has a second chance at securing his liberty next week.

The Parole Board has today revealed that a hearing on whether Macdonald, 33, is ready for release will be held in Christchurch next Monday.

The Feilding farmer was acquitted of murdering his brother-in-law Scott Guy in a high-profile trial last year.

After a jury found him not guilty of murder, he was sentenced in September last year to five years imprisonment for a crime spree targeting neighbouring Feilding farms.

Macdonald pleaded guilty to six charges, including the slaughter of 19 calves with hammer blows to their heads, the theft and killing of two trophy stags, emptying a neighbour's main milk vat of about 16,000 litres of milk worth tens of thousands of dollars, and burning down a 110-year-old whare.

The charges were not revealed to the murder trial jury, partly because they would have been prejudicial.

Macdonald had already served more than a year in prison while awaiting trial.

He was denied parole last December after the board found it was not satisfied he no longer posed an "undue risk to the safety of the community''.

The parole board confirmed today that his second parole board hearing will be held at Christchurch Men's Prison next Monday morning.

APNZ understands Macdonald will be represented at the hearing by a lawyer. He was not legally represented during his first parole board hearing.

Mr Guy, 31, was shot and killed at the end of the driveway of his Feilding home in the pre-dawn darkness of July 8, 2010.

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The number of media allowed inside the parole board hearing is limited, but APNZ has secured access and will be providing in-depth coverage.