By Rachel Tiffen
A violent criminal with a list of more than 100 convictions is to be released from prison a year early.
John Wharemako Gillies, 39, is serving seven years for bashing two policemen.
In a much earlier incident - in 1993 - he stabbed Gisborne policeman Nigel Hendrikse in the neck, chest and thigh.
Gillies will be freed under strict conditions, but the ACT Party says he should not be out at all and would not be under the new three strike law.
Gillies is one of New Zealand's most recognisable criminals – with a large mongrel mob tattoo on his left cheek.
The tattoo is gone now, taken off by taxpayer-funded laser surgery in jail and the parole board hopes he has cleaned up his ACT too.
The terms of Gillies' release are strict - 24 hour electronic monitoring, no drugs, no alcohol and if he leaves without permission it is likely he will be straight back to jail.
The ACT Party says he should stay in prison.
“For the protection of the rest of us, people like Gillies should stay in prison and if they are rehabilitating that's for them to do in prison in the proper terms,” says ACT list MP Hilary Calvert.
For the record, Gillies has 106 convictions, 34 for violence and eight of those assaults against police and prison officers.
That includes the 1993 attempted murder of Gisborne constable Nigel Hendrikse, when Gillies was out on bail for other assaults and was sentenced to 12 years jail.
He got out early and attacked two more officers in 2004, earning himself seven more years jail in 2005 and, he is out early for that too.
“We need people to learn and we need to not just give them a sort of slap on the wrist with a wet bus ticket on their way past,” says Ms Calvert.
Gillies has often been in the headlines, he escaped and went on the run for a month in 1994.
In 2000, he got tens of thousands of dollars in compensation for being ill-treated by prison guards in Hawke’s Bay prison back in the early 1990s.
The parole board decision released today says that Gillies has been well-behaved in more recent times and that he is showing signs of maturity.
He turns 40 years of age next month and appears to be focused upon now trying to reintegrate into the community and to have the support of his family.
3 News
source: newshub archive
