Andre GILLING 1/12/2021

Parole Hearing

Under section 21(2) of the Parole Act 2002

Andre GILLING

Hearing: 1 December 2021

at Rimutaka Prison via Videoconference

Members of the Board: Sir Ron Young – Chairperson

Mr A Hackney

Associate Prof. P Brinded

Counsel:                                            Ms J Fyfe

DECISION OF THE BOARD

  1. Mr Gilling, who is 32 years of age, was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder in 2008.  This is his first appearance before the Board.  He had some convictions prior to the murder but he was sentenced when he was only 19 years of age.
  2. As far as the facts are concerned, we do not have either a summary of facts or the Judge’s Sentencing Notes, and it is vital we have that information for the next hearing.  We do have the Probation report for his sentencing which, at that time, indicated that Mr Gilling denied being part of the murder.  Today, when we spoke to him it is clear that he has accepted that he played a significant part in the assault on the young man who died.
  3. Mr Gilling had a very difficult childhood [withheld].  As a result, he has really had minimal expectations about life and the way forward.  He has had little or no experience of life or experience in the community and given his periods in [withheld] and in prison.
  4. Currently, Mr Gilling is working as a baker in the staff training college.  He has a very good report about his work ethic.
  5. He completed the STURP in May 2020.  He made good progress there although one of the concerns was that if things go wrong, he can sometimes make anti-social comments and can fear change.  The fear of change is perhaps understandable [withheld].
  6. He is assessed as being high risk of violence, particularly if he has an unstructured life, uses substances and is in bad company.
  7. We agree with the psychologist that [withheld], Mr Gilling does have a very high reintegrative need.  He has now finished all his rehabilitative interventions.
  8. The way forward now is for him to test what he has learnt on the STURP programme.  That will involve going to Self-Care.  We understand that is imminent and he can then work his way through various employment to Release to Work.  He should have a number of guided releases into the community.  We hope that he can undertake some shopping once he is on Self-Care to further familiarise himself with the community.  He will need extensive wraparound support on his release, he will need people he can trust, he will need good employment and he will need significant emotional support.
  9. No doubt Corrections will keep in mind those needs as he progresses along.  We would also encourage him in two other ways.  We consider it important that Mr Gilling undertake [withheld] and his interest in doing so.  Secondly, we also think he should do his best to obtain what further education may be offered in the prison.  Having talked with him, we think Mr Gilling is an intelligent young man and we hope that that can be brought out.
  10. We are satisfied at the moment he is an undue risk.  We will see him again by the end of August 2022.

Sir Ron Young

Chairperson