Supervisor jailed for corruption

The officer was known as the 'go-to' person to get hours swiped. Photo / NZ Herald

A former Corrections officer, known among the offenders he was supposed to be supervising as the "go-to" person for wiping hours off their community work sentences, has been jailed over corruption charges.

Chanel Vern Scanlan will miss the birth of his seventh child as he begins serving the two-year and nine-month jail sentence imposed yesterday.

The 38-year-old earlier admitted 30 counts of willfully attempting to pervert the course of justice and five counts of corruption, laid after a Department of Corrections investigation found he had falsely credited sentenced offenders as having served 2700 hours of community work while he was working as a supervisor in Tokoroa between 2007 and 2008.

Scanlan also accepted bribes - in one case writing off 64 hours for a load of firewood - and fixed the recorded hours of 30 offenders.

The offending was discovered after Scanlan left and moved to Australia. On learning of the investigation, he returned and handed himself into Manukau Police Station.

The department has since taken action against two offenders who bribed Scanlan.

Rotorua District Court heard yesterday how Scanlan had kept a clean record despite an upbringing marked by drugs, alcohol and violence, before slipping into a "serious drug problem".

He has apologised to his six children and estranged wife, who is due to give birth to his seventh child in two months.

Judge Phillip Cooper noted his remorse, but said such offending struck at the heart of the administration of justice. "Your actions seriously undermined the integrity of the sentences, breached the trust of your employer, and breached the trust of the public."

His lawyer, Arama Ngapo-Lipscombe, told the Herald afterward Scanlan was saddened to miss his child's birth but accepted the seriousness of his crime meant the court had no option but to impose its sentence.

The department has been strengthening monitoring procedures for community-work hours, and since December police have been vetting preferred applicants for frontline roles.

It is now asking applicants to disclose criminal associations, to undertake drug tests and, for roles in finance, procurement and payroll, to submit to credit checks.

Community Probation Services general manager Katrina Casey said the department was pleased with Scanlan's sentence.

CHANEL SCANLAN

* Hired by the Department of Corrections in 2005, employed as a full-time community work supervisor in 2007.
* Over nine months between 2007 and 2008, falsely credited more than 2700 hours of community work for offenders.
* Of the 30 offenders with hours wiped, 18 had more than half of their sentences marked as complete.
* One offender had 95 of their 100 hours written off in exchange for a $200 bribe.
* Another had 64 out of 200 hours wiped for a load of firewood.
* On some occasions, accepted drugs and cash.