After 23 years behind bars a man who raped and murdered his elderly neighbour has been granted parole.
Justin Ross Garthwaite (51) will be released from prison on Monday but will be barred from entering the South Island, a report released yesterday said.
In November 1996, the man subjected Invercargill pensioner Florence Bennett to a brutal attack.
He bound the victim’s hands, taped her mouth shut and cut her phone line in a bid to stop her calling police if she survived.
She died from suffocation.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 14 years and Parole Board chairman Sir Ron Young said the inmate had now done all the rehabilitative programmes possible.
Garthwaite, who had previous violence and property convictions, had completed specialist sex offender therapy and one-on-one counselling, was in the self-care unit at Rimutaka Prison and had been on release to work for three years.
He was a minimum-security prisoner and was considered as presenting a medium to low risk of reoffending, Sir Ron said.
Probation’s high-risk team wanted Garthwaite to be released only to long-term accommodation but that was dismissed as "simply unrealistic".
"It is not appropriate for the case manager to limit the options as to accommodation simply because the high-risk team within Corrections take a view as to what accommodation will be suitable," Sir Ron said.
Further, he was critical of several of the department’s proposed parole conditions and subsequently removed them.
Probation did not want Garthwaite to contact anyone under 16 or have access to the internet but Sir Ron said that had no relevance to his risk of reoffending.
He also deleted a provision that the parolee inform his Probation officer of every intimate relationship he formed.
The conditions of release included:
- To attend a psychological assessment and any treatment as directed by Probation.
- To live at an address approved by Probation.
- To abide by a 10pm-5am curfew for the first three months of release.
- Not to enter the South Island.
- Not to contact any victim of his offending.
- To attend any hearing directed by the Parole Board.
