The Department of Corrections is considering whether to call the man who murdered Ranfurly policeman Peter Umbers back to prison to complete his sentence.
Richard Thomas Lakich, who was released from prison on parole in 2004, appeared in the Christchurch District Court on Friday and pleaded guilty to two benefit fraud charges, involving a total of about $3000.
He was remanded for sentencing on March 17.
If a person released on parole commits an offence, the Department of Corrections can apply to the New Zealand Parole Board for the person to be recalled to continue serving their original sentence.
When asked if that would happen in this case, Community Probation Services general manager Katrina Casey said yesterday the department was still considering whether to apply for a recall.
May 27 will be the 21st anniversary of Senior Constable Umber's murder.
He was bashed with his own baton when he stopped Lakich, a robbery suspect, and died beside his police car.
His brutal murder shocked the close-knit town and also highlighted the vulnerability of officers in one-man stations.
For his bravery in the execution of his duty, he was posthumously awarded the George Medal.
Approached by the Otago Daily Times for comment yesterday on the possibility of Lakich returning to prison, Snr Const Umber's widow, Sue Umbers, said Lakich was in charge of his own destiny.
"He can make the most of what's left of his life, or not.
"He has that option."
Lakich, who lives in Kaiapoi, said in a television documentary last year that although he was ill and would eventually need a new heart, he refused to put himself on the transplant list because he did not "deserve it".
When he appeared in court in July last year on the benefit fraud charges, he pleaded not guilty, Ms Casey said.
Soon after his court appearance, the department considered applying to recall him to prison but decided he did not present an "undue risk to the community as a result of his active charges", she said.
It was decided that case management strategies could be used to respond to the changes in his circumstances.
Now that he had changed his plea to guilty, the department was reconsidering a recall application, Ms Casey said.
In general, when considering such an application, the department looked at each offender's circumstances and the risk they posed to the community.
It must have evidence the offender would pose an undue risk to the community if they were not recalled to prison, she said.
Parole board communications manager Sonja de Friez outlined how a recall application would be handled.
"Usually the application is made by the offender's probation officer and it would be granted and processed within 10 or 15 minutes.
"Then, once that has happened, the offender is taken back into prison to await a recall hearing, which generally takes place within a fortnight."
If the hearing determined the offender should be recalled, they re-entered the prison system and became eligible to try for parole within a year, the same as any other prisoner, Ms de Friez said.
- (Additional reporting: NZPA)
