Terms of parole

Press, 12 September 1987, Page 15

Terms of parole

PA Auckland ' The Justice Department < has gone public on the < special parole conditions i imposed on a former < Paremoremo inmate. Dean Wickliffe. ’ The chief probation < executive, Mr Murray Short, said the release ] was a matter of setting ] the record straight. “There has been so ! much misinformation about, that the (Justice) i department saw a need to 1 clear things up once and l for all," he said. The Secretary for Jus- I tice, Mr David Oughton, I has said that Mr Wickliffe

was consulted on the original parole conditions and agreed to them before they were put into effect. “It has also been claimed that Mr Wickliffe could not find work in Kaitaia. The fact is that a job was found for him by probation officers but he refused it,” Mr Oughton said. Mr Oughton has said that Mr Wickliffe’s failure to adhere to the conditions, which has resulted in breach proceedings being issued, could see him back in jail to serve out his life sentence.

Mr Wickliffe, speaking from a friend’s home in Mangere last evening, said the release was dealing in half-truths. “Yes, they did hitch up a job for me painting bridges for the local council, I didn’t object to it, but it was only for six weeks and $220 a week,” he said.

Mr Oughton said the Parole Board was aware of the problems of adjusting after long-term imprisonment. But, he said, the board had acted in accordance with Concern for both the public and Mr Wickliffe.