Home leave for RSA getaway driver

The getaway driver who waited while William Bell bashed three people to death in an RSA has been denied parole but will soon be allowed "frequent" home visits.

Darnell Tupe was found guilty of three charges of manslaughter and one of aggravated robbery for his part in the December 8, 2001, slaughter at the Mt Wellington-Panmure RSA. He was sentenced to 12 years in jail.

At a Parole Board hearing this week Judge Patrick Mahoney said the board thought it important Tupe had home leave given the years he had spent in prison.

"The home leaves in our view should commence as soon as possible and take place as frequently as the prison will allow and increasing to at least 24 hours of home leave."

Murderers Peter George Davis and Carl Liam Martinson were also denied parole. Davis raped and stabbed 8-year-old Invercargill Sarah Jane Curry to death in 1992.

Martinson raped and murdered 19-year-old Donnell Marie Wood in Palmerston North in 1994.