Rape accused bailed to camp site

A man charged with drugging and raping a woman was living in the camping grounds of popular Waiwera swimming pools while on electronic bail for serious drug charges.

Paulus Nieuwenhuiysen is facing charges of stupefying and rape after allegedly calling an escort to an address in Waiwera and giving her a drink.

The 23-year-old woman alleges the next thing she remembered was waking up to him having sex with her.

At the time, the 49-year-old had been on electronic bail for alleged possession for supply of Ecstasy, methamphetamine and cocaine last year and is due to appear in the Auckland District Court on those charges this week.

Nieuwenhuiysen was bailed to the Waiwera Holiday Park and Thermal Pool, a popular destination for more than 350,000 visitors a year.

The thermal pool complex, 35km north of Auckland, also has a holiday park with cabins and camping sites.

Roger Mac, chief financial controller for the group that owns Waiwera Holiday Park and Thermal Pool, said the court decision to allow Nieuwenhuiysen to live at the camping ground was "crazy".

He said the business opposed the electronic bail application, but Nieuwenhuiysen was sent back to his last known address.

"So we were stuck with him. We had to keep an eye on him, which was very difficult," said Mr Mac.

"It's crazy. It's totally crazy.

"The court should be able to look at the circumstances and say 'hang on a minute'. Why would they put someone in an ankle bracelet in a camping ground?"

Mr Mac said Nieuwenhuiysen had to keep within a 20m radius of his cabin and was kept separate from other guests.

However, people would see his ankle bracelet and ask questions.

"People would want to know why. That was quite detrimental to our business, because they'd go away and talk about it to other people. It's been quite upsetting."

Lindsay Talbot, the national manager of the police e-bail system, said he was unable to comment about Nieuwenhuiysen because he was making a fresh bail application today.

However, Mr Talbot said people applied for electronic monitoring after they had been denied regular bail. Police then built a "bail risk profile", which was a written report to give advice to the court. "The judge will then make up their mind. They may or may not agree with the police view," said Mr Talbot.

The case has reignited the debate over the controversial alternative to remanding defendants in jail, made available to courts in 2006 to reduce prison numbers.

While in Opposition, Justice Minister Simon Power labelled e-bail a "dangerous experiment" and is promising to review it alongside other bail laws.

The Labour Party's spokesman on law and order, Clayton Cosgrove, said the changes amounted to nothing more than a "tweaking of words", and this case appeared to make Mr Power's claims of "toughening up on bail" a farce.

ELECTRONIC MONITORING BAIL

EM Bail is similar to home detention, but is managed by police rather than Corrections. It allows suitable defendants to live at home or at an approved community address, wearing an electronic anklet as part of their bail conditions.

The anklet sends a continuous signal to a monitoring unit located at their place of residence (and at any other designated location). The unit connects to a control centre which monitors and records the person's whereabouts in relation to the unit, 24 hours a day.

If the person goes beyond the monitored vicinity of the unit for an unauthorised reason an alarm is raised and police respond.

EM Bail does not stop a person leaving the designated zone but, if they do, the electronic monitoring process shows this, so police can act.