KEY POINTS:
Prime Minister Helen Clark has criticised Corrections and the Parole Board for being too "legalistic" in their handling of killer Graeme Burton.
As frustration builds over a lack of accountability for Burton's rampage, the Prime Minister yesterday stepped in and told both organisations what they could have done
better.
The Corrections Department has effectively cleared itself of any wrongdoing in two internal investigations into its own handling of Burton.
The second probe, released yesterday, found that Corrections' policies and processes were correctly followed while Burton was on parole.
An independent probe into the board found it acted reasonably in deciding to release Burton.
Corrections chief executive Barry Matthews yesterday described Burton's parole as "well managed".
However, Helen Clark expressed concern about the approaches taken by the department and the board.
"I think they acted according to the law as they believed it to be," she said. "But I think the approach has been rather legalistic."
Victims of Burton's crimes have labelled the reports as whitewashes.
Political pressure has also been building on the Government over the case and National Party leader John Key yesterday climbed into the fray, saying the claim that Burton's parole was well managed was "absurd".
Fresh details have been made available of what police suspected Burton was up to while on parole.
As early as November 21, Burton failed to report to his probation officer but he had a "reasonable excuse" and no further action was taken.
Mr Matthews would not disclose what that excuse was.
Not long after, police told probation staff that they had heard Burton was using standover tactics on drug dealers and associating with a known offender at strip clubs.
Police later received more information about Burton and warned probation staff that the parolee might have a gun and be assaulting people.
However, probation staff wanted an affidavit from police spelling out the allegations so that the information could be put to the board.
Police refused because the information was provided by an informant who they did not want to risk unmasking.
Mr Matthews said Corrections needed that written information and could not proceed without it.
Helen Clark said: "The police can't be expected to give a sworn affidavit to Corrections that's going to appear in an open hearing if it's based on intelligence."
It was "unacceptable" that later moves to recall Burton to prison stalled while his probation officer went on annual leave for a week.
"Clearly, Corrections has to improve the timeliness of response," she said.
Describing the annual leave incident as a "shortcoming", Mr Matthews said it would not have made any difference to the outcome because police were already hunting for Burton.
Nobody could have predicted that Burton would "go on some crazy mission" in the Lower Hutt hills and kill people.
Corrections is looking at tightening the discretion it allows probation officers when dealing with high-risk offenders in the wake of the Burton case.
The officer handling Burton used that discretion when she chose to send him a written warning after he failed to report to her.
Mr Matthews said the department was "not being too liberal". It was "unrealistic" to expect long-term prisoners to come out and always be able to meet deadlines and conditions perfectly.
Helen Clark emphasised that the board and Corrections should use all the relevant information passed to them and would have to judge how much weight they gave it.
