Deported man ‘supervised’

Press, 14 June 1983, Page 1

Deported man ‘supervised’

PA Wellington The Prime Minister, Mr Muldoon, yesterday assured the public that a man tried for the Sydney “head-in-the-oven” killing was now under some supervision by Carrington Hospital in Auckland.

The man, James Leighton Ferguson, was deported to New Zealand last week, three years after being found not guilty of murder on the ground of insanity. In August, 1980, he was

ordered to be held in jail “at the Governor’s pleasure.” Mr Muldoon said that Mr Ferguson was a voluntary patient at Carrington Hospital. “This is a matter of great public interest and it is important for the public not to be alarmed at the possibility that this man is free without any supervision. “What happens from there is for the future, but

he is not simply at large and running around. He is not in Carrington, but he is a voluntary patient. “... With Carrington having full details of his condition if there was anything to be concerned about, it is not too difficult to take the necessary steps to have him a committed patient.

“What we wanted to be assured of was whether he was simply out in the community with no supervision whatever. He is under a

certain degree of supervision.” Mr Muldoon said that the Government had not made inquiries about the amount of time Mr Ferguson was spending at Carrington Hospital. The Carrington authorities could not reveal that Mr Ferguson was a voluntary patient, “but the Government has made an inquiry and the Cabinet believes we should make that known.”

The Cabinet had not taken legal advice about releasing the information, Mr Muldoon said.

Mr Ferguson was deported to New Zealand last Friday, after being released from Sydney’s Long Bay jail. At his trial, he was accused of murdering Mrs Laurie Callagher at her Sydney home. The Court heard that he cut off Mrs Callagher’s head and cooked it in an oven.