New Zealand Parole Board -

Parole Hearing

Under section 21(1) of the Parole Act 2002

Peter Ross MORAN

Hearing: 6 October 2016 At [Withheld] AVL to NZPB Offices, Wellington

Members of the Board:

• Mr B McMurray – Acting Panel Convenor
• Dr P Taylor
• Mr G Crowley

Support Persons:

• [Withheld]
• [Withheld]
• [Withheld]

DECISION OF THE BOARD

1. Peter Ross Moran, aged 26, is serving a sentence of three years six months for causing grievous bodily harm with reckless disregard to the victim who was two years old. He was in a position of care of the infant.

2. Mr Moran has a RoC*RoI of 0.175 and a prison security classification of minimum.

3. The Psychological Assessment of 30 September 2015 described his overall risk of further violent offending as low.  That report painted a picture (paragraph 30) that Mr Moran, because of his continued denial of committing the index offence, would not be expected to fully understand the factors that contributed to him offending and therefore not fully understand further situations that may place him at risk.

4. It also went on to say that it is unclear whether he has identified strategies to avoid or manage risks in these situations. After that report was prepared Mr Moran has undertaken further work with a psychologist preparing safety plans for release.

5. In our view there has to be a plan for Mr Moran’s risks also to be externally managed because of his denials and his lack of understanding of what led up to the offending. It is not realistic to expect him alone to manage risks of further offending.

6.  We have read the comments of family members contacted by the Psychologist and met some of them in the hearing.  We are not satisfied they can independently commit to managing his risks or be likely to provide the quality of supervision required to manage his risks externally.

7. They strongly believe he is innocent of the crime he was convicted of.

8. They are committed to providing him with support on release, both in terms of accommodation and personal support.

9. We also note that he was not able to do the recommended [Withheld] programme because of the denials.

10. It is important for any future Board to have an updated report from the psychologist who provided Mr Moran six to eight sessions of treatment earlier in 2016.  The psychologist worked with Mr Moran on the preceding factors that led up to the offending and also the development of a risk management plan for Mr Moran.

11. We have seen a copy of that plan and while on its own it looks like a good plan, we are not satisfied that the other factors to manage his risk are necessarily in place.

12. Also because Mr Moran has not undertaken offence-specific treatment, largely due to denial of offending, we are not satisfied that if released at this part of his sentence he would not be an undue risk to the safety of the community.

13. We think he is a risk to young children. If Mr Moran was to have supervision of or be left alone with a young child, we are not satisfied that he would not re-offend in a similar way.

14. Parole is declined.

15. Mr Moran will be seen in April 2017 with that updated psychological assessment and a plan which sets out the external controls developed to manage his risks.

Mr B McMurray
Acting Panel Convenor