Simon Power MP
National Party Justice & Corrections Spokesman

Minister must explain how man stalked woman from prison

Corrections Minister Damien O'Connor should explain how a convicted stalker was allegedly able to continue to harass a woman despite her asking the prisons where he was held to put a stop to his mail, says National's Justice & Corrections spokesman, Simon Power.

"Corrections did nothing, despite her pleas after she allegedly received more than 200 threatening letters from him, and despite Section 107 of the Corrections Act allowing them to open a prisoner's mail if they suspect letters may be used to threaten or endanger the recipient.

"They had the power to intervene, but they did nothing."

Mr Power is commenting after reports that a prisoner received, under the Official Information Act, crime scene photographs of a man who had killed himself, wrote on them, and sent them to the man's partner - all from Paremoremo's maximum security unit.

"Police report that the complainant and her two daughters 'have received in excess of two hundred letters from the defendant, all of which have been unsolicited and unwanted. This is despite the complainant requesting various prisons where the defendant has been incarcerated to put a stop on his mail to them'.

"This is an appalling set of circumstances.

"Not only was Corrections told about this harassment, it should have known the prisoner had 191 convictions - including writing letters to harass his victims while in prison - but still he was able to continue.

"And all Northern regional prison manager Warren Cummins can say is 'There was nothing in the prisoner's list of convictions that would have provided us with reasonable grounds to monitor his correspondence as a matter of course.'

"That's an astounding comment to make about someone with so many convictions.

"Damien O'Connor and Justice Minister Mark Burton should explain how this disastrous set of circumstances came about."

ENDS

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