A man who was jailed after pointing a gun at his pregnant teenage partner has come to the attention of Corrections staff 10 times during his incarceration, it has been revealed.
Brendon Russell Fred McLeod made headlines in 2012 when he was seriously burnt after lpg from two cylinders he was huffing with a friend was ignited by a gas heater the pair were using for warmth.
The 22-year-old was jailed in July last year for two years and three months on eight charges of assaulting and threatening his former partner during their two-year relationship, two charges of assaulting his 3-month-old baby son and one of threatening to injure his partner's mother.
In addition to the incident in which McLeod pointed an unloaded air rifle at his then-partner - threatening that is was loaded and he would kill her - he also attempted to strangle her on one occasion and attempted to smother their child when the boy was 3 months old.
McLeod appeared before the New Zealand Parole Board last month, becoming eligible for parole after spending more than a year on remand following his arrest in June last year.
The board declined parole, saying in its decision his appearance was "really rather premature''.
The decision revealed McLeod's behaviour had come to the attention of Corrections staff 10 times since being held in custody on remand.
"Apart from the index offending he has a history of some 12 previous convictions for assault, trespass, theft, breach and driving matters,'' the board's decision said.
"At this stage his appearance before the board is really rather premature ... coming after some 372 days have been spent on remand.
"Unfortunately for him during that time he has featured in eight incidents and two misconducts.''
The decision did not detail those incidents further, but said McLeod's behaviour was "much more stable''.
McLeod had to attend behavioural programmes within prison and "understands that he has to make progress with rehabilitation and put together a release plan before parole can be realistically considered'', the decision said.
He will next appear before the board in August next year.
