High profile offender released into Wanganui district area - 8/08/2012

Wanganui’s Mayor Annette Main has acknowledged reluctantly the news that high profile offender Stewart Murray Wilson will shortly be released on parole into a house alongside Whanganui Prison at Kaitoke.

“I was informed this morning of the decision by the Corrections Department and have been advised that the special conditions imposed on him are amongst the most stringent ever imposed,” Mayor Main said.

“It appears that these conditions will be as close to being in prison as is legally possible. I have been assured that he will be housed in an isolated site on prison land, his location if he leaves the house will be monitored by GPS and if he does leave he must be accompanied at all times by two designated people.

“Currently the law does not enable this person to be kept in prison, as I am sure all of us would prefer, and we were told there is no other place in New Zealand where there are no victims of his crimes, and where he can be housed under the strict conditions imposed and live alone outside of a community. The unpalatable alternative is that he is housed within a community somewhere in New Zealand.

“This decision is not one that Council has any control over and one all of us will find difficult to accept. The onus is on Corrections and the Police to ensure the conditions for release are fully met and complied with.

“Although this man is being released under strict conditions in a location alongside a prison in our district, he is not going to be residing in the community and he will never be part of our community. While we are a caring and inclusive place to live, we have zero tolerance for those who pose a risk to the safety of our citizens.”