Rawiri (David) Waretini-Karena and Paul Wood were both convicted of committing murder when they were 18 and faced a lifetime either in prison or under strict reporting conditions.
Now, they both have PhDs, and are the first under the current law to have all conditions of their parole dropped.
“I never got anything out of these appointments,” Waretini-Karena, of Kirikiriroa Hamilton, said of the nearly 24 years he reported to a probation officer at least once a month.
After serving 10 years and seven months he was released from jail on life parole. His study journey led to a PhD in indigenous studies.
He says he took the parole reporting and other conditions seriously, but they were unproductive.
“They didn’t seem to have anything to do with rehabilitation or reintegration, as I had met their criteria many years before.”
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Ross Giblin/Stuff
Former prisoner Dr Paul Wood returns to prison to tell the inmates they can turn their lives around. (File photo)
Wood had a similar experience, saying having to report on parole for years got in the way of fully moving on with life. Having to check in with his probation officer put him in contact with people with “anti-social tendencies”.
The two men gave written statements to a recent Court of Appeal hearing involving other young people convicted of murder.
The court is considering whether young convicted murderers, who could be seen as not having the same moral responsibility for their actions as adults, should receive finite jail sentences more often, instead of the standard life imprisonment with lifetime parole.
Three young people appealing against their sentences, Georgia Rose Dickey, Christopher James Brown and Katrina Roma Epiha, were convicted of crimes committed when they were 16, 19 and 18 respectively.
The lawyers have raised issues including whether a life sentence was appropriate for crimes committed when the brain was still developing impulse control and the ability to foresee consequences of actions. A young person’s sense of time was different to an adult so a sentence without an end date could be crushing, they said.
John Hawkins/Stuff
Christopher James Brown was 19 and had a border-line intellectual disability when he took part in events leading to the death in Invercargill of Jack McAllister, also known as Jade Fearn, 19. Brown was sentenced to a life term. (File photo)
The law presumes a life imprisonment sentence will be imposed for murder, but can be avoided if a judge believes it would be “manifestly unjust”. The Court of Appeal has reserved its decision.
The court gave Stuff access to the statements of Waretini-Karena, Wood, the Children’s Commissioner and a senior Department of Corrections manager.
In 1987, Waretini-Karena killed a man he was led to believe was a child abuser. Wood killed his drug supplier, who made sexual advances to him and his girlfriend in late 1995.
Their paths to higher education began in prison, with Waretini-Karena learning to read and write while Wood, a high school dropout, began reading obsessively.
Under a new parole regime that began in 2002, they are the only two so far to have conditions of their parole discharged. Although their parole continues, they are no longer supervised or monitored.
Iain McGregor/Stuff
Katrina Epiha was 18 when she stabbed Alicia Nathan, 32, at a house party in Christchurch, in 2017. She was sentenced to a life term. (File photo)
Waretini-Karena asked four times before succeeding in having the parole conditions dropped.
“The process taught me resilience. Every time I was turned down, I asked what I needed to do so I could get a better outcome next time. I would take those steps, and apply again, but then the goal posts would be moved.”
He thought parole conditions were not well-designed for long-term or life parolees.
“You have already met all their requirements, so you just continue on the same course and nothing changes. What needs to happen is growth and development,” he told the court.
That is why I kept going back to the Parole Board, seeking a discharge of my conditions, so I continued to push the boundaries.”
“I had to continually challenge the process otherwise I would have nothing else to live for.”
Although it was Waretini-Karena who first began asking to have parole conditions dropped, it was Wood’s application the Parole Board granted first.
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Paul Wood’s best-selling account of his journey to and from prison was published in 2019. (File photo)
Wood, of Wellington, said having the conditions dropped in 2020 was a path back to being a fully functioning member of society. He left prison after 10 years and 10 months, already on his way to a PhD in psychology.
Parole for 14 years had just one condition he considered helpful: to see a psychologist. The rest was monitoring and risk management. Eventually he saw a probation officer once every 40 days, the least allowed.
Visits to his probation officer put him in contact with people with anti-social tendencies and attitudes.
Chris Skelton/Stuff
Convicted double-murderer John Barlow, right, helped Wood in prison on the road to higher education and was on hand to congratulate him the day he was awarded his PhD in 2012. (File photo)
“The only time I was exposed to those people was when I went to visit probation. It actually becomes a risk factor,” Wood told the court.
“In my experience, being on parole hinders your ability to fully move on with your life, to create a new life for yourself and leave that part of your life behind.”
A person subject to a life sentence could be recalled to prison to resume serving their sentence, for instance if they breached conditions of parole or were accused of re-offending.
ROSS GIBLIN/STUFF
Convicted murderer and former prisoner Dr Paul Wood returns to prison to tell those inside they can, like him, turn their lives around (Video first published in 2020).
In written submissions to the court, Children’s Commissioner Judge Frances Eivers said life parole meant the parolee was always at risk of a disproportionate response to a future mistake.
Having no definite end in sight for a sentence – and the prospect of a life on parole – reduced the hope of those who were sentenced, she said.
A life sentence on someone under the age of 18 could not be considered anything but manifestly unjust, Judge Eivers said.
ROBERT KITCHIN/Stuff
Judge Frances Eivers says a life sentence for someone under the age of 18 is manifestly unjust. (File photo)
Ben Clark, national commissioner of corrections services for the Department of Corrections, said people sentenced to a life term when they were young began parole without the life skills of an adult living in the community.
Corrections knew greater wraparound support was needed to manage their risks, he said.
The department held records for 109 people convicted of murder under the age of 18, although records before 2000 were not complete.
Two 13-year-olds appeared to be the youngest. One received a life term and the other received an 18-year sentence. Both have since been released on parole.
Too few young people were sentenced to life imprisonment each year to provide meaningful statistics on their recidivism rates compared to those who were older, Clark said.
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