The father of Karl Kuchenbecker who was murdered by parolee Graeme Burton says murderers such as Burton should never be paroled.
His comment follows the release of the coroner's report into Kuchenbecker's death which finds fault with the probation service, the department of corrections and the police.
26-year-old Karl Kuchenbecker was stabbed and shot dead by Graeme Burton above the hills of Wainuiomata in January 2007.
Burton was on parole after serving 14 years of a life sentence for another murder.
Karl’s father Paul Kuchenbecker says while the authorities have apologised, it's not enough.
''They have all said sorry publicly and we have taken that on board but as far as I'm concerned it doesn’t stop there. I mean if any one of us goes to stand up in front of a judge you don't get off what you're there for by saying sorry,'' he told RadioLIVE.
Burton had breached his parole six times leading coroner Garry Evans to say he was given a ''long lead'' to do as he pleased.
It took police two weeks to process his arrest warrant and the coroner says this led to missed opportunities to catch him.
Paul Kuchenbecker says probation did a ‘shocking job’ and he's looking at legal action against the Corrections Department.
The department accepts its actions had a role in Karl Kuchenbecker's death, but says it has already made changes.
''We have tightened our procedures for managing high risk offenders and clarified for staff what it is exactly they need to do and when, when an offender is starting to go off the rails,’’ says Katrina Casey form the Department of Corrections
Police say the coroner's findings mirror those of the independent police conduct report released in February.
''Between ourselves and other agencies we have improved the way we communicate between the Courts and ourselves we've improved the processes in regards to the warrants,'' Wellington Police District Commander Pieri Munro told 3 News.
The coroner ruled Karl Kuchenbecker's death might have been prevented but he acknowledges the police, corrections and probation have all made changes since then.
3 News
source: newshub archive
