Corrections Review of Phillip Smith’s Illegal Departure

Corrections Chief Executive Ray Smith has made public a summary of the findings of the review into the illegal departure from New Zealand of prisoner Phillip Smith during a temporary release.

“As soon as possible after I was informed that Smith had left his sponsor’s supervision and therefore escaped our custody I suspended temporary releases, unless for exceptional reasons. I have now extended this suspension until 9 December and will institute further changes.

“The review by Corrections’ Chief Custodial Officer reveals that the plan for Smith’s series of temporary releases was overly ambitious and misinformed.

“He’s a highly manipulative and deceptive person who although technically eligible, should not have been considered for temporary release.

“For his victims this has been a terrible time and I have apologised to them and offered to meet with them.

“They and the New Zealand public quite rightly expect Corrections to keep them safe and with Smith we failed.

“There was an overreliance placed on the treatment provided to Smith in the Te Piriti programme for child sex offenders run at Auckland Prison rather than enough consideration given to his murder/violent tendencies.

“Due to an overreliance placed on psychological reports and an indication of support from the Parole Board, prisoner Smith began a series of temporary releases. Senior prison staff approved these earlier successful releases which eventually meant that he was placed in the hands of a verified sponsor who did not inform us when he left her supervision.

“The Chief Custodial Officer has made13 recommendations which I accept and will be instituting. They sit alongside the 10 point plan initiated by the National Commissioner immediately following this incident.

“The plan includes greater use of GPS, a report on how we verify sponsors, and an evaluation, including independent oversight, of the current risk assessment process conducted by our psychologists.

“Smith is part of a small but challenging group of offenders who are focussed on beating the system.

“We have on average about 4700 temporary releases each year and Smith has exposed faults in our release process which are being addressed with urgency.

“As well as our review I am working with our Justice Sector partners and Customs to ensure we share information to thwart these types of prisoners breaking the law.

“I’ve released a summary of the review because for security reasons and to safeguard the privacy of individuals I haven’t been able to make the complete review public.

“I’m pleased to complete this part of the internal review process and this information will now feed into the wider Government inquiry”.

http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1411/Signed_Briefing.pdf

ENDS

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