Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis has to front up and explain how incorrect advice was provided to the Parole Board, leading to the tragic death of an innocent woman, National’s Corrections spokesperson Mark Mitchell says.

The chairman of the Parole Board said it was incorrectly told by Corrections in late 2021 that there was no space available at a residential rehabilitation centre, leading it to parole Joseph James Brider to a unit for former prisoners. Nine weeks later, in January 2022, Brider murdered Colombian woman Juliana Bonilla-Herrera, who lived next door.

“A young woman visiting our country was killed because the system failed her,” Mr Mitchell says.

"Kelvin Davis needs to front up to New Zealanders and explain how this happened and what he, as Minister for Corrections, is doing to address the obvious shortcomings and what actions are being taken to ensure this doesn’t happen again.

“National has been clear that we will put victims and public safety back at the centre of our criminal justice system. We need more tools to deal with offenders approaching the end of their sentence who are assessed as being at a high risk of reoffending, to ensure public safety is the paramount consideration when deciding when offenders should be released back into communities.

“This was an avoidable and tragic death of a young woman and is another failure by a Labour Government that is soft on crime.”

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